ABSTRACT
The following extract is from the first chapter in Judith Milner, Steve Myers and Patrick O’Byrne’s revised book on assessment, in which they confront the situated, conservative and professional-centric nature of assessment as it has been practised in social work. They explore social work’s longstanding tendency to individualise social problems, as well as the impacts of changing legal and policy contexts and the rise of evidence-based practice as an apparent antidote to the complexities of working with risk. Woven throughout the chapter (which we recommend reading in full) are extensive examples to illustrate the assertions made. The authors conclude by encouraging readers to embrace the uncertainties that are an inevitable part of assessment. Whilst the focus of this chapter is assessment of service users, we have included one suggested Further Reading that critically examines the assessment of Black students in social work education.
