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BJSW Advance Access originally published online on October 16, 2007
British Journal of Social Work 2009 39(2):280-298; doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcm119
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved.

Professional Categorization, Risk Management and Inter-Agency Communication in Public Inquiries into Disastrous Outcomes

Christopher Hall and Stef Slembrouck

Christopher Hall is Reader in Applied Childhood Studies, University of Huddersfield, UK. Previously a social work practitioner, he has carried out research on child welfare policy and practice, professionals’ use of new technology, and the application of narrative and discourse approaches.

Stef Slembrouck is Professor of English Linguistics and Discourse Analysis at Ghent University, Belgium. He has published extensively on discourse, interaction and the construction of institutional identities in diverse domains (medical, bureaucracy, child protection).

Correspondence to Dr Christopher Hall, Centre for Applied Childhood Studies, University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, UK. E-mail: c.j.hall{at}hud.ac.uk


  Abstract

This paper suggests a conceptual shift in the way we approach information sharing by foregrounding the role of categorization. We argue that the establishment of professional categories, while being central to institutional intervention, is contingent on the complexities of everyday inter-professional encounters. It is important therefore to analyse situations in professionals report on the negotiation of categories as well as how professionals account for a failure to align sender and receiver frames. The data analysed in this paper consists two excerpts each from a public inquiry in the UK (the Victoria Climbié Inquiry) and one in Belgium (the Parliamentary Commission Dutroux). In conclusion, we address a number of themes in contemporary debates about improving interagency and within-agency communication. In particular, we advocate the promotion of language awareness rooted in interactional analysis and the need to understand the on-the-ground dynamics of evolving everyday practice as important prerequisites for bringing about and responding to change.

Keywords: categorization, information sharing, public inquiries


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