This new text is based on Frederic G. Reamer's key reference for practitioners, Social Work Malpractice and Liability: Strategies for Prevention. Rooted in his own experiences as an expert witness in court and licensing board cases, the volume introduces the concepts of negligence, malpractice, and liability before turning to the subject of risk management. Reflecting on recent legal cases and research, Reamer identifies a variety of problems in the social work field relating to privacy and confidentiality, improper treatment and delivery of services, impaired practitioners, supervision, consultations and referrals, fraud and deception, and termination of service. He also explores the unprecedented ethical challenges created by new digital technologies—such as online counseling, video counseling, and practitioners' use of social networks and social media—and describes current issues relating to HIPAA compliance and access to electronic health records (EHR) and health information exchanges (HIE).He concludes with practical suggestions for social workers named as defendants in lawsuits and respondents in licensing board complaints.

Timely and essential, Ethics and Risk Management in Online and Distance Social Work identifies pertinent ethical challenges and ethically related risk-management issues that social workers should consider when using digital technology to assist people in need. The text illuminates how the use of technology is influenced by traditional ethics concepts, including consent, privacy, confidentiality, professional boundaries, documentation, and other issues. The text begins by discussing how social workers today are leveraging technology to provide services to clients and the importance of continually considering the ethical issues involved in using such communication methods. It addresses the specific ethical issues involved in video counseling, cybertherapy, text messaging, self-guided web-based interventions, smartphone apps, and other forms of digital communication. Ethical, regulatory, and practice standards are covered, as well as challenges in integrated health and social work educational settings. The final chapter is dedicated to preventing and managing ethical and legal risk. Ethics and Risk Management in Online and Distance Social Work is an ideal textbook for advanced courses in social work. It is also an excellent resource for social workers interested in incorporating online or distance communication in their practice.

At a time when accountability and the avoidance of risk are increasingly demanded of social workers, the ability to make clear and informed decisions is essential. This book, written for practicing social workers undertaking their ASYE and compulsory CPD, has been designed to help professionals make sound judgments in increasingly complex contexts and under pressure. The focus is on empowering front-line professionals through reflective practice, so that they are able to draw on multiple factors and perspectives and make sound problem-solving judgements. The book begins with the core concepts, client focus, and legal background before moving on to consider the collaborative processes and the nature of individual judgements. It then considers particular dimensions of social work decision making, such as safeguarding, taking risks, assessment and dynamic decision tools and processes. It then concludes by look at the organisational context of decision management, with a focus on supervision, training and effective communication.

The study of ‘risk’ in social work involves complex interplay between human behaviour, emotion, evidence of fact, professional values and organisational systems. This book brings together contributions from key social work researchers and theorists from the UK, USA, New Zealand and Italy, writing with a focus on aspects of risk within social work. It examines key debates concerning risk in contemporary social work practice, including ethical dilemmas, approaches to decision-making and the challenges of ignorance and errors. Contributions range from the perennial challenges of how one uses formal knowledge when assessing risk to emerging risks arising from the counterterrorism agenda. This book will enable practitioners, policy makers and researchers to appreciate the complexities of risk in different settings and apply this understanding to their own practice. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Social Work Practice.

This path-breaking text constructs a new way of thinking about social work based on contemporary social theory. Working in a counter-tradition that is suspicious of a number of governing ideas and practices in social work, it draws on themes from Beck, Giddens, Rose to explore the impact of risk society and neo liberalism on social work.

Professional Risk and Working with People provides advice on assessing and managing risks for all those employed to take risks with or on behalf of other people. The authors explore issues of risk assessment and management that provides readers with a broad knowledge of risk practices that can be applied across a range of disciplines. They detail the benefits of risk as well as the potential harm and explain relevant legislation and concepts of negligence in clear and accessible language. Examples of risk policies, systems and effective judgement in managing complex risk decisions are also included. In the current climate of blame and readiness to pursue legal action against professionals, this book will prove essential reading for all practitioners who come into contact with risk, including doctors and other health and care professionals, probation officers and social workers. Leaders of professional courses and their students will also find this an invaluable guide.

This new edition gives a clear and up-to-date picture of how the Children Act 1989 is working. All chapters have been updated with the latest case law, legislation and guidance.

For decades, teachers and practitioners have turned to Frederic G. Reamer’s Social Work Values and Ethics as the leading introduction to ethical decision making, dilemmas, and professional conduct in practice. A case-driven, concise, and comprehensive textbook for undergraduate and graduate social work programs, this book surveys the most critical issues for social work practitioners. This sixth edition incorporates significant updates to the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics and discussion of challenging issues related to cultural competency, antiracism, moral injury, human rights, environmental justice, ethical humility, non-Western perspectives on ethics, and practitioner self-care. Reamer also focuses on how social workers should navigate the digital world through discussion of the ethical issues that arise from practitioner use of online services and social networking sites to deliver services, communicate with clients, and provide information to the public, and he examines the standards that protect confidential information transmitted electronically. He highlights potential conflicts between professional ethics and legal guidelines and expands discussions of informed consent, confidentiality and privileged communication, boundaries and dual relationships, documentation, conflicts of interest, and risk management. Conceptually rich and attuned to the complexities of ethical decision making, Social Work Values and Ethics is unique in striking the right balance among history, theory, and practical application.

Reflecting back on one's work to determine where one succeeded or failed is crucial in any field, but it's particularly important in social work, where mistakes can cause real harm. In this book, Alessandro Sicora argues for the value of reflecting on our professional mistakes, and he offers a number of tools, for individuals and groups--backed by real-world examples--designed to help social workers at every stage of their career establish a regular, reliable, and effective reflective practice.

This book has been replaced by Managing Suicidal Risk, Third Edition, ISBN 978-1-4625-5269-6.