ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with demonstrating the increase in social vulnerability in our societies. Increasing complexity is one of the dominant explanations for this increase. In creating the welfare state, the overall idea was to expel serious social problems, like poverty, illiteracy and homelessness. Promoting well-being for all was expected to lead to a decrease in institutionalisation, in the sense that fewer people would need to be imprisoned or hospitalised. Social workers mostly view neo-liberalism and globalisation, and sometimes third way socialism as well, as the causes or at least the perpetuators of an inhuman world. States, businesses, schools, families and individuals are all coping with complexity and unpredictability. The impact of social vulnerability has obvious financial consequences. In the production-oriented society the first cost factor is that of reduced participation. The old social quest which dominated much of the 19th and 20th centuries was fighting poverty, illiteracy and the lack of civilisation.
