Risk Assessment in Social Care and Social Work

Peter Burke is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Work at Hull University. His research and teaching interests concern the needs of families, children with disabilities and their siblings. Mike Titterton is a social work trainer and consultant based in Edinburgh, and has worked with the topic of risk as a developmental consultant in health promotion in the UK and internationally. Formerly a lecturer in social work at the University of Glasgow, he has published widely on health and social care.

• 1. Introduction, Phyllida Parsloe, Emeritus Professor, University of Bristol.2. Rehabilitation and the Distribution of Risk, Brian Caddick and David Watson, University of Bristol. 3. Social Services Staff: Risks they Face and their Dangerousness to Others, Peter Burke, University of Hull. 4. Perceptions of Risk, K.I. Macdonald, Nuffield College, University of Oxford and G.M. Macdonald, University of Bristol. 5. Risk Assessment and Prediction Research, Bill Beaumont, University of Bristol. 6. Assessing Risk from Offenders, Bill Beaumont, University of Bristol. 7. Assessing Risk in Mental Health, Joan Logan, University of Bristol. 8. Risks for Children and Families, Kay Sargent, University of East Anglia. 9. Old People at Risk, Olive Stevenson, Emeritus Professor, University of Nottingham. 10. Training Professionals in Risk Assessment, Mike Titterton, Consultant, Edinburgh. Index.

The book is very topical at this time and we consider it to be vital for those involved with the teaching of future social workers and nurses, while it should also be read by other social care professionals and by social and criminology policy makers. In the field of mental health, the reading of this book should, in a most specific way, help us to feel greater certainty when making difficult decisions.