| Abstract: | Correspondence to Sally Johnson, 66, Church Street, Fordingbridge, Hants SP6 2BE Summary How does it happen that the well-intentioned efforts of localauthority social services departments to offer guidance to theirsocial worker employees in coping with violent clients actuallyresult in declarations that violence is inevitable and in theexpectation that the social worker on the ground will manageit? This paper discusses the problem of violence against socialworkers and the response of four local authority social servicesdepartments as expressed in guide-lines issued to staff. Thefirst part of the paper examines the background of news eventsand theories of aggression against which the guide-lines wereproduced. The second part discusses the response of the localauthority social services departments as employers to the problemsof assessing risk and coping with violence and its aftermath. |
