Risk assessment - Assignment Example

risk assessment by The of the The of the School The and where it is located The Date Risk assessment Introduction If one takes a look at the society, one cannot help noticing that it should be regarded as one of the irreplaceable prerequisites for the development of the inner potential of a human being. Indeed, if it had not been for the presence of other people around, a considerable number of features that are seen as characteristic to our kind would not have evolved. Nevertheless, one should make an important reservation: the social environment may not be equally beneficial and kind for all the members as there will be people who experience different problems and, therefore, will not be able to enjoy all the benefits that it provides. It must be noted that one of the primary functions of the government is to help such people; that is the goal that is pursed in the social work. However, in order to make the latter effective it may be particularly important to be able analyze hazards and risks that are present in lives of the people. The aim of this paper is to review the first case study about Susan and focus on her example from a point of view of a social worker. First of all, the concept of hazard will be explored and various hazards that exists in the case study will be identified. Secondly, the notion of risk will be explained and different risks that are present in life of Susan will be taken into account. The next part of the paper will focus on various predictable variables that are essential when it comes to risk management. Furthermore, two approaches towards risk assessment will be explored: the qualitative and the quantitative one, each engaging examples from the essay. The nature of risks in Susan’s life will be analyzed as well as different variables that influence perception of risk. Hazards in the case To begin with, it may be important to dwell on the concept of hazard as it is understood in the social work. Thus, the above mentioned term often denotes “anything that can cause harm” to a person (Armstrong, 1999). Indeed, this is a rather broad definition; however, it absolutely makes sense. For example, having a weapon at home is considered to be a hazard by some, but other will reject it. The latter will point out that the mere presence of a gun in a household does not make it any more dangerous. Thus, in order for the gun to shoot, it should be loaded with ammunition and the trigger should be pulled. These actions cannot happen by themselves. That is why there is no need to worry. However, a common sense tells that having a gun at home increases the chances of an accident if compared to a house with no gun in it. Having established the dentition, it may be logical to take a look at hazards that are present in Susan’s case. First of all, one should point out that her reported alcohol abuse is a hazard (Tweedy, 2013). It is able to cause damage to her health as well as to her social or professional life. The next aspect that should be identified is her low salary. How can the latter be a hazard? The answer is quite simple: if a person is not able to manage the money properly, low income can become a large problem. This will be more explained in risk sections. Finally, there is another hazard that should be taken into account: in spite of the fact that Susan owns the house, there is a mortgage on it. It is obvious that there is nothing with the latter; however, it does hold potential problems for the people who are not able to pay in time. Risks in the case Now, it may be logical to turn to risks. One should explore the definition of this notion in order to gain a better understanding of it. Thus, risk stands for a probability of chance that some that causes harm to a person happens (Duffey & Saull, 2008). As one can clearly see, there is a tremendous difference between hazard and risk: the former focuses on a particular object while the latter puts emphasis on the probability. One would make no mistake that hazard can exists without or little risk, but little or big risk will always involve a particular hazard. In the example which was mentioned above, the risk of someone’s loading and firing a gun may be rather big if it is stored next to bullets, but if they are kept separately, the risk is much lower. If one considers that actual case in question, one will be able to identify the following risks that exist for Susan. First of all, there is a moderate to high risk that her alcohol abuse will cause problems in her professional life, probably even resulting in her dismissal. It was noted that she is not able to control her substance abuse and there has been an episode when she came to work under influence (DelPo & Guerin, 2003). Another such incident would lead to termination. Another point that should be mentioned is that low salary is not able to balance the money that she spends each month. To put it simply, Susan spends more than she earns and this can cause many financial problems. Finally, the above mentioned mortgage is also problematic: Susan is reported to have missed several payments and such systematic violation of rules may result in losing her house. Predictable variable in relation to risk assessment Since risk assessment should be carried out in an effective manner, various variables which are able to increase its accuracy should be taken into account. The first of them is the extent of substance abuse. Indeed, the latter is progressing: Susan started drinking as a coping mechanism to deal with guilt, but she was said to come to work under influence which means that she incorporated drinking into her life (Preedy, 2005). This also holds another serious implication: the woman in question is absolutely not in control of her habit, quite the opposite, it is her drinking that controls her. It is rather obvious that in the foreseeable future the substance abuse will not go away: it is will progress and make her life worse in different terms. The next predictable variable is the low income of Susan. As it has been noted in the case study, the woman was not able to adapt to the new living conditions after the death of her husband: it is quite possible that he has been working as a teacher prior to the accident and her financial state was all right, but she did not understand that this was due to her husband’s salary (Ledgerwood, 2013). Now when this source of income is gone, she tried to balance her expenditures with the help p of different loans. The latter is surely not the best way to get financial help since it actually makes the debt of a person even bigger. Finally, one of the aspects of this variable that should be taken into particular account is that Susan is not likely to find a better job in the future. Another variable that is of great importance when it comes to predicting the future of Susan is the mortgage. The current evidence shows that it is able to result in many problems. Thus, there are already two instances when she was late with the payment and this probably contributed to some tension (Herigstad, 2007). This should be regarded as evidence that Susan was not able to plan her finances properly. Furthermore, as has already been mentioned, the likelihood of increase of her income is rather small; that is why such delays in payments will be more frequent. Finally, there might be a situation when Susan simply is not able to pay any more. In spite of the fact that she owns the house, the lack of ability to pay mortgage will inevitable result in her eviction together with the children that are currently relying on her. The last variable that should be mentioned is the existence of children. First of all, there are not too young so that they would need constant care, but they are also not adult enough to be independent (Gregston, 2009). Another point that should be mentioned is that since they are teenagers, there are likely to be problems between her and them since the latter will probably rebel against their mother. This is already seen in the kind of decisions that they make: the son ended up in a bad company while the daughter started a relationship that is doomed to fail. Furthermore, the problems with the children may also be explained by the lack of proper male model in front of their eyes. Thus, their father is dead and they are not likely to see any other man as his substitute. Qualitative risk assessment After exploring various hazards and risk as well as predictable variable, it may be logical to turn to risk assessment. However, there are two approaches that might be used: qualitative and quantitative. This section will focus on the former. First of all, one should note that Susan displays lack of ability to adapt to her new living conditions and lives as if there is some kind of a safety net for her (Vermond, 2010). This can be clearly see in the way she uses the available resources, namely that she does not only spend more that she earns, but that she used up all her savings and the probability of real financial crisis is quite high. Furthermore, she seems not to care about her future at all: she drinks which is a clear example of self destructing behaviour, she does not care about her job as she was able to come to school drunk. All this also reflects the weakness of her character. It has been found that alcohol abuse often happens if a person does not have enough will to cope with the problems in a different way (Glicken, 2007). Even thought substance abuse does not help one, it surely provides one with a temporary relief which ultimately ends up being exactly what one needs. This means that out of many different ways of coping, Susan did not make the right choice and ended up doing more harm than good to her. In addition to that she cares little about her work: something that is of vital importance to her. Thus, now when there is no additional source of income she should have focused on earning more in order to pay all the debts, but she seems to be not interested in hard work. This might suggest that she does not want to fight for her future. Quantitative risk assessment The next approach that might be used to assess the risks that are present in the case study in question focuses on the quantitative aspect. It is obvious that the first variable that should be taken into account is the state of financial affairs. As it has already been mentioned, Susan has developed a habit of taking too many loans (Kayafas, 2008). In spite of the fact that they do help in short term perspective, they might result in devastating consequences for her. Furthermore, her salary is not only small, but it is not likely to increase any time soon. With this in mind, one might suggest that her financial state will not improve any time soon unless she finds an additional source of income. Finally, with one incident of coming drunk to school the chances that she might look her job are rather high. In other words, the risk of her ending up without a secure source of income is relatively big. What is more important is that her children pose a great risk to her as well. To begin with, they are teenagers which results in the emergence of different problems that are associated with this age such as rebellious spirit and other issues (Lily & Harmon, 2012). For example, each of the children has already started exploring live on his or her own. Thus, the son was once brought home by the police after he was drinking in the park. One would make no mistake suggesting that he is not likely to have a bright future in case he carried out this way. Speaking of the daughter, she seem to be doing well except for the strange relationship that has to a man who is significantly older than her and is not going to make a good husband. Nature of risks The previous sections of the paper explore in great detail different risks that can be found in the case about Susan. However, it may be particularly important to turn to examination of their nature. Thus, the first point that should be made focuses on the fact that all the negative consequences which are currently experienced by the woman in question are results of her wrong life choices. For example, instead of spending less and focusing more on her job, Susan decided to use loans to balance her expenditures (Ellison & Maynard, 1992). This is a horrible decision since it reinforces her inability to deal with the money properly. What is more important is that she has probably become a bad model for the children since they see that their mother keeps making mistakes. The next point that should be mentioned is that lack of inner balance in personality of Susan. Indeed, one would not be wrong suggesting that the death of her husband has had a significant impact on her life and she is not able to fully recover. It has been noted that she still thinks that it is her fault and tries to cope with it using alcohol. In other words, she is not able to come to terms with herself; so it is difficult to blame her for the wrong choices that she makes. Nevertheless, she has two children that are depending on her and it may not be logical to allow such careless actions (Efron, 1988). In addition to that, Susan is displaying behaviour that is not contractive and does not lead to a successful resolution of the problems that she experiences. Variables that influence the perception of risk Speaking of variables that should be explored while considering the perception of risks, one should note that media plays an important role in it. Indeed, Susan is a 45 year old single woman and it may be rather difficult for her to live in a world that praises young and successful people. Furthermore, media amplifies the understanding that life could be much different, but Susan is not able to do anything with it: she simply drinks in order to be distracted from all this and forget about the misery that exists in her life (Wong, 2015). In addition to that various social conventions also have a negative influence on her behaviour: for example, the contemporary society suggests that women should be supported by man, so Susan is largely perceived as an odd piece in the social environment that needs to be balanced by another person. Risk management plan Finally, it may be logical to design a risk management place that would benefit Susan. First of all, one should clearly identify the risks that should be taken care of immediately which included alcohol abuses and possible loss of job because of it; improving financial state of affairs and making sure that all the loans that dealt with; improving the situation with mortgage. In this case the staff should be ready that Susan is likely to deny the existence of these problems: she is likely to turn a blind eye to her substance abuse, calling it “occasional drinking”, not taking into account the problems that it brings. Furthermore, she may not be willing to make any improvements in terms of finances pointing out that so far she was able to make ends meet and she will probably do it in the future as well. For a theoretical perspective this denial can be explained rather easily: by denying the existence of the problem, Susan is willing to eliminate the problem as if it never happened. It is obvious that the women in question will not be able to cope with all these issues on her own, so she may need qualified help of different agencies. As for review and monitoring system that this plan envisions, it should be facilitated thought interview with Susan: she should be able to provide evidence about improvement in her current living conditions and how the steps that she is required to make contribute to this improvement. Furthermore, it may be necessary to assign a counsellor to her so that she would be able to contact one in case she is at loss what to do in a particular situation. Conclusion Having examined all the points that were mentioned in the paragraphs above, one is likely to come to the following conclusion: the case of Susan is difficult, but it is surely not hopeless. Indeed, many people in the country have low income and have taken loans that they probably are not going to pay. However, there is solution to every such situation. One of the major problems that Susan faces is the lack of desire to make right choices in life. Indeed, for her the normal course of life ended with the death of her husband. It is understandable that this is a terrible loss, but she cannot afford (even literally) be living with the old mindset. If she wants to survive she should adapt to new living conditions. That is why the primary goal of the social work in this case would be to help Susan develop the right perspective on her life and make her want to change some aspects of it. References Armstrong, M. (1999). A handbook of human resource management practice. 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