Moral risks in social work

Hollis, Martin and Howe, David (1987) Moral risks in social work. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 4 (2). pp. 123-133. ISSN 0264-3758

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Abstract

Social workers must often decide whether a child, at possible risk from its parents, should be removed from home. Each year some children, left at home, are abused or killed. If the procedures have been duly followed, is a bad result to be put down to incompetence or to bad luck, and, if to the latter, does that cancel moral responsibility? We examine the claim that the case is one of ‘moral luck’ and argue that the system licences greater risk than is morally justified. This is because it embodies conflicting imperatives of welfare and justice. Anyone who becomes a social worker must face a constant risk to moral integrity [1].

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Social Work
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Research on Children and Families
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	20 Mar 2020 01:29
Last Modified:	14 Jun 2023 23:46
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/74570
DOI:	10.1111/j.1468-5930.1987.tb00211.x

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