Working with Aggression and Resistance in Social Work

Brian J Taylor, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of Social Work at Ulster University, Northern Ireland. Professionally qualified in social work and teaching, he spent 10 years as a practitioner and manager, and then 15 years in training and organisation development in health and social care before joining the University. Brian was founder and principal organiser of the biennial conference series: Decisions, Assessment, Risk and Evidence in Social Work, 2010-2022. He has taught, researched and published on these topics, including being author on over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles. He has supervised about 20 PhD students, including some jointly with colleagues in communication studies, health care, psychology, youth and community work, law and computer science. Brian is a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences; honorary Senior Fellow of the School for Social Care Research at the National Institute for Health Research, London; and honorary Associate of the Harding Centre for Risk Literacy at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin. He was a founder member of the Board of the European Social Work Research Association (ESWRA), and founder-Convenor of the ESWRA Decisions, Assessment and Risk Special Interest Group.

• IntroductionDefining Key Concepts: Aggression, Ambivalence and ResistanceUnderstanding Aggression and ResistanceAvoiding Assault and Defusing AggressionWorking in Situations of Domestic Violence′I Don′t Want Your Help′: Ambivalence and Resistance in Adult ProtectionAssessing the Risk to Children Despite Parental ResistanceWorking with Irrationality and Dangerousness in Mental HealthCoping, Challenge and Conflict in GroupsManaging Conflict in Maintaining Standards in Social Care Service ProvisionConclusionAppendix: Subject Benchmark for Social WorkGlossaryReferencesIndex