Understanding Risk-Taking

This book outlines and systematises findings from a growing body of research that examines the different rationales, dimensions and dynamics of risk-taking in current societies; providing insight into the different motivations and social roots of risk-taking to advance scholarly debates and improve social regulation.

Conceptually, the book goes beyond common approaches which problematise socially undesirable risk-taking, or highlight the alluring character of risk-taking. Instead, it follows a broadly interpretivist approach and engages in examining motives, control, routinisation, reflexivity, skills, resources, the role of identity in risk-taking and how these are rooted in and framed by different social forces.

Zinn draws on qualitative studies from different theoretical and conceptual backgrounds such as phenomenology, hermeneutics, pragmatism, feminism, class analysis, theory of practice and discourse analysis among others, to outline key distinctions and concepts central to the understanding of risk-taking.

It will be a key resource for everyone who is concerned with the understanding and management of risk-taking in all kinds of social domains, such as immigration, youth, leisure sports, crime, health, finance, and social policy.

1. Introduction. - 2. The Meaning of Risk. - 3. Different Disciplines. - 4. The Notion of Risk-Taking. - 5. Key Characteristics of Risk-Taking. - 6. Negotiating Social Forces. - 7. Responsibilisation: Blaming or Empowering Risk-Taking. - 8. Reasonable Risk-Taking in Everyday Life. - 9. Conclusions and Perspectives.