Prevention in social work: the final frontier?

Abstract

The concept of ‘prevention’ presents many enduring dilemmas for social work. There have been noteworthy attempts to develop policies and practices that can enable ‘prevention’, but these have been frustrated by uncertainty about what constitutes prevention, and how to manage the tension between prevention and responding to crisis. There have been numerous successful prevention projects in the UK, the United States and Europe, but hitherto few of the lessons appear to have been incorporated into mainstream services. In an age of advanced marginality, the mainstream remains preoccupied with protection and risk management. In this article the core theoretical ideas underpinning the ‘paradox of prevention’ debate are examined alongside initial findings from a cross-national research project with practitioners in two European welfare states. This indicates why, in the post Baby Peter era, it has proved difficult to translate good policy intentions into effective practice and how prevention as the final frontier might be reached.