ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book concerns about workplace safety and violence towards social workers as they go about their professional tasks. It examines the special issues which employers, managers and staff in social work agencies - in local authority social services departments, voluntary agencies and in the probation service - need to address. The book draws heavily on the work of Chris Cardy in association with Diana Lamplugh for The Suzy Lamplugh Trust in Training for Personal Safety in the Workplace. It focuses on social work - both field and residential. It is clear from reported incidents of violence that only a group or team approach to preventing and managing violence is effective. Good social work practice implies a responsibility to ensure that social workers, and their clients, are able to work together constructively, even when addressing complex and distressing situations.
