ABSTRACT
This article presents findings from a study of risk-based decision-making which challenges aspects of the well-established consensus regarding the role that actuarially generated knowledge plays in risk-based decision-making in social work. Firstly, it suggests that there is little direct relationship between the process of risk assessment and its outcome. Secondly, it highlights that subjective practitioner judgement plays a role in elevating risk levels beyond those which actuarial calculations warrant. Finally, although risk aversion is evident, this cannot be reductively attributed to actuarial knowledge generation strategies. Instead, it is a function of practice in an environment in which fear of blame is a very real concern. I conclude with discussion of the implications of these findings for ongoing debates regarding forms of knowledge in practice.
