BJSW Advance Access originally published online on October 17, 2006
British Journal of Social Work 2008 38(1):117-134; doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcl334
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Risk, Mental Disorder and Social Work Practice: A Gendered Landscape
Joanne Warner is Senior Lecturer in Social Work in the School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Research, University of Kent. Her research interests are: socio-cultural approaches to risk, mental health and social work and their intersections with ‘race’ and ethnicity, gender and place; the impact of cultures of inquiry and blame on professional practice. Recent publications include: Warner, J. (2006), ‘Inquiry reports as active texts and their function in relation to professional practice in mental health’, Health, Risk and Society, 8(3), pp. 223–37; Warner, J. and Gabe, J. (2004) ‘Risk and liminality in mental health social work’, Health, Risk and Society, 6(4), pp. 387–99.
Jonathan Gabe is Professor of Sociology in the Department of Health and Social Care, Royal Holloway, University of London. His research interests range from risk and mental health to the changing social relations of health care. He has published widely on these topics in both academic journals and books. His most recent publications are The Sociology of Health and Illness: A Reader (co-edited with Mike Bury, Routledge, 2004) and Key Concepts in Medical Sociology (co-edited with Mike Bury and Mary Ann Elston, Sage Publications, 2004). He is co-editor of the internationally recognized medical sociology journal, Sociology of Health and Illness.
Correspondence to Dr Joanne Warner, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, Room G2-14, Gillingham Building, University of Kent, Chatham Maritime, Kent ME4 4AG, UK. E-mail: j.warner{at}kent.ac.uk
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Abstract |
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Whilst the importance of gender for social work practice, risk and mental health has been recognized theoretically for some time, few attempts have been made to explore this area empirically. This paper presents findings from a mixed-methods study of social work practice in relation to mental health service users perceived to be ‘high-risk’. Findings suggest, first, that the concept ‘high-risk’ was gendered because the primary focus in social work practice was on the risks posed by male service users to others. Second, female social workers in the present study were found to have more female service users from their caseloads who had been defined as ‘high-risk’ compared with their male counterparts. The paper goes on to explore this apparent congruence between female social workers and female service users and highlights how the management of risk could be considered gendered because it reflects a worker’s (perceived) capacity in cultural terms to ‘decode’ the nature of the risks that their clients face as gendered subjects. The paper demonstrates how the intersections between risk, mental disorder and social work practice can therefore be understood as a gendered landscape. It concludes by highlighting the implications of these findings for social work practice and research.
Keywords: risk, gender, social work, mental health
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