Cooper and White's edited book presents the current legislative position on safeguarding adults in England since the implementation of the Care Act 2014 which gave safeguarding adults a statutory footing for the first time in April 2015. The book builds on a policy agenda in the United Kingdom (UK) called ‘Making Safeguarding Personal’, which is underpinned by notions of person-centred, outcome-focused approaches to protecting and safeguarding adults from abuse and neglect. In editing this book, the editors bring together some excellent contributors with expertise in the field of safeguarding adult practice, research, academia and law. With a foreword by Lyn Romeo, the Chief Social Worker for Adults in England at the time of writing in 2018, the book provides accessible practical approaches, supported by research and law, to those concerned with or are engaged in safeguarding adult practice and research.
The content is organised into three main sections, each incorporating five chapters, except for Section 2 which has four chapters. The three sections consider how to: ‘work with people’, ‘apply the range of legal tools at our disposal’ and ‘engage with newer areas of adult safeguarding activities’ (p. 14). Cooper and White provide a helpful definition on what is safeguarding in the introduction chapter using ‘I’ statements from service users’ narratives. This brings home why safeguarding adults is important. In Chapter 1 (Section 1), Lawson explains ‘Making Safeguarding Personal’. She provides helpful top tips and these are linked to law and policy which makes application to practice easy to understand. In Chapter 2, Stanley focuses on the theme of person-centred strengths and rights-based approaches. Drawing from the principles underpinning the Care Act 2014, Stanley urges the reader to hold signs of safety and wellbeing in mind when engaging in safeguarding adults. He provides a framework for how these signs of safety and wellbeing can be applied in practice. In Chapter 3, Taylor and Tapper look at the benefits of participative practice through family group conferences. This chapter draws broadly from the literature, practice and research on models of family group conferencing, including its costs and benefits internationally and in the UK. Gunner, in Chapter 4, focuses on recovery, resolution and restorative justices. He draws from the six principles underpinning safeguarding adults in the UK (empowerment, preventions, proportionality, protection, partnership and accountability) to make the case for mediation and restorative practice in safeguarding adults. Hafford-Letchfield and Carr look at involvement and engagement of people in safeguarding adults in Chapter 5. The chapter is grounded in research and policy on service user involvement and highlights some of the challenges and barriers to involvement in safeguarding. The authors offer good practice pointers through the use of narrative approaches and advocacy.
Section 2 focuses on working with risk and using the law. White (Chapter 6) discusses different approaches to working with risk and some of the tension in law. Baker looks at mental capacity and safeguarding (Chapter 7) and Bateman (Chapter 8) discusses using the law to support adult safeguarding interventions. She hones in on the need to act in line with public law principles and links this to the Care Act, Human Rights Act and the six principles of adult safeguarding. In Chapter 9, Manthorpe, Johnson, Martineau and Norrie discuss what helps and hinders engagement with adults at risk of abuse or neglect. Chapter 9 is a welcome addition to the field, as literature on this topic is limited.
Section 3 focuses on the new categories of abuse introduced by the Care Act 2014. It makes purchasing this book worthwhile. Braye, Orr and Preston-Shoot look at self-neglect and hoarding (Chapter 10), Pike and Norman focus on domestic abuse (Chapter 11) and Botting, Elliott and Oliver discuss human trafficking in Chapter 12. Financial scamming is covered by Lee, Johnson, Fenge and Brown (Chapter 13). Although all the chapters are worth reading, I found Braye, Orr and Preston-Shoot's chapter very useful. It is set in the context of research on what is known about self-neglect and hoarding, and provides a useful mapping of the legal pathways in self-neglect practice which make application of law to practice easy to understand. Cooper provides the concluding chapter, and prompts the reader to consider the importance of partnership working with the person at risk of abuse and their carers, practitioners and organisations supporting them, and urges practitioners to continue to learn and listen.
There are standardisations in the chapter format. The discussions are grounded in policy, law, values, research and practice. As well as using case studies to illustrate key points, most of the contributors provided helpful tips on how to apply the various approaches to practice, and there is a table of legislation appended to guide practitioners on how to apply law to practice, which truly cements one of the key aims of the book.
Overall, this is a timely, useful addition to the literature on safeguarding adults. The diverse topics covered increase its accessibility to a wider readership both in the UK and internationally. It would be relevant to practitioners, academics, students, lawyers and researchers who are concerned and/or are engaged in safeguarding adults.
