Making Sense of Practice

Social workers practise in unpredictable and complex situations where often they must balance competing rights and ethical principles, resolve dilemmas and manage stress. Decisions call for skilled professional judgement and sound decision-making (HM Government, 2010a; 2015b) in which knowledge of legal mandates alone is insufficient to handle the complexities involved in cases, promote the exercise of human rights and achieve valued outcomes. Indeed, to be the ‘critical fixers’ valued by experts by experience (Braye and Preston-Shoot et al., 2005), practitioners must engage in dialogue not only about what may or must be done but also why and how. This demands that social workers act confidently in and with authority.