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Post by lark descending on Mar 11, 2010 8:12:03 GMT
Social workers are taking the rap for failing to protect three daughters raped by their fatherThis takes me back 30 years to a court case involving a father and a daughter who both appeared in court charged with incest and disposing of the bodies of (allegedly) still-born babies discovered buried in the garden. The girl (then a young adult)had had one or two other babies who had been adopted. The father was sent to prison, the girl (then about 18 or 19) put on probation. The case wasnt even taken up by the national press; this sort of thing was fairly common and so far as I remember, there was no question of blaming the authorities.
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aubrey
WH Member
Seeker for Truth and Penitence
Posts: 665
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Post by aubrey on Mar 11, 2010 9:07:22 GMT
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Post by jean on Mar 11, 2010 9:18:36 GMT
I think the problem in this case is that the authorities knew about what was happening for years, but did nothing.
That takes some explaining.
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Post by lark descending on Mar 11, 2010 10:57:48 GMT
I think the problem in this case is that the authorities knew about what was happening for years, but did nothing. That takes some explaining. The story I quoted from doesn't make that allegation Jean; indeed it quotes someone as saying that once a complaint was made, action was taken swiftly. All I'v heard was that one of two social workers suspected the father - but how often do those sorts of suspicion arise?
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Post by marchesarosa on Mar 11, 2010 19:12:51 GMT
I think it is easy for certain young or inexperienced social workers to be intimidated by aggressive "clients" and not to pursue things as they ought.
I have never been a social worker but I have had to bring "bad news" to the homes of sometimes rather aggressive folk. I worked part-time as what is known as a "first call bailiff" for a couple of years (when I was desperate!). But when I got intimidated (only twice) I phoned 999 for a bobby to escort me in and I think any scared social workers should be permitted to do the same. It seems so obvious to me. But perhaps social workers are/were NOT permitted to call on the services of a brawny boy in blue? It certainly boosts your confidence. Bailiffs are officers of the court so perhaps it's different for them.
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Post by jean on Mar 11, 2010 19:44:55 GMT
The story I quoted from doesn't make that allegation Jean; It does say ...the executive summary into a serious case review, which acknowledged the family had contact with 28 different agencies and 100 members of staff over 35 years.Not that I hold with blaming poor social workers for everything - but in this case surely there should have been better communication between agencies, when it was known there was a problem and the father kept moving the family around.
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Post by lark descending on Mar 11, 2010 20:05:00 GMT
Yes, and I do wonder if the Data Protection Act has a lot to answer for!
I say this as one who had a job in a local authority, who found it almost impossible to find out where a debtor/defaulter/defender had moved. Unless I was sure a crime had been committed, no-one would assist me, even within my own authority.
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Post by marchesarosa on Mar 12, 2010 10:14:21 GMT
There seems to be a "soft on criminals and soft on perps" culture in social work, lark. The "profession" is riddled with PC that lets abusers thrive.
It's largely a female profession, too. Hardly surprising that many find discretion the better part of valour when dealing with nasty people, especially when the "culture" is so damned "caring". Institutionalised "caring" can be a problem I would think. It's a paradox.
My instincts would always be to "get tough" and kick up a fuss when the interests of the vulnerable are concerned, not to back off. But I guess that would be labelled as "caring too much"! For the social worker to call in a police escort could be considered a "failure", though, in the profession - displaying a lack of appropriate "professional skill". It's not a failure, it's a necessity sometimes - and probably more often than is acknowledged.
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Post by lark descending on Mar 13, 2010 12:03:01 GMT
I was no social worker, Marchesa - I was in the enforcement business, initially as a legal executive, latterly doing the grass roots stuff. The law didn't make life easy and yes, I probably wasn't tough enough with the landowner who in my hearing issued a threat against a felow enforcement officer. The police told me not to worry; he'd done 15 years for armed robbery so couldn't own a gun...(!)
But the cases we hear about are tip of the iceberg stuff. For every one that ends in tragedy there are many, many more raising the same kinds of concerns.
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Post by marchesarosa on Mar 13, 2010 12:44:42 GMT
No, I realise you weren't a social worker, lark. I considered myself lucky that because of my legal status I was able to call on the police to help me.
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Post by lark descending on Mar 13, 2010 13:49:21 GMT
But did they actually come? My OH in theory can call for the police when he has to visit a potentially dangerous member of the public, but eery time he tries is told they are too busy manning a cordon or something.
And many local government workers preferred not to visit sites with the police, believing that would infame things even more. So I have some sympathy with social workers who really won't know when violence will flare.
I suspect that the real thing that pevents them from doing their job properly is the bottomless pit of potential cases.
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Post by marchesarosa on Mar 13, 2010 17:06:10 GMT
The police came and assisted me on the two occasions I needed them
Yes, social workers are overburdened but
"local government workers preferred not to visit sites with the police, believing that would infame things even more"
this attitude is wrong when vulnerable people and children are concerned. Bullies know they can intimidate. This is wrong.
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Post by lark descending on Mar 13, 2010 17:34:42 GMT
But we visited, Marchesa, without the police. The women especially preferred it that way because they were more likely to get co-operation that way. The men were more likely to get thumped, so they did sometimes ask for the police to go.
I quit enforcement work when I realised I wasn't made of the right material; a couple of incidents frightened me. But most were made of sterner stuff.
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Post by marchesarosa on Mar 14, 2010 12:30:48 GMT
As they would any normal human being, lark. That's why bullies and abusers are left alone. Social workers can always find excuses for a softly softly approach that leaves children in the hands of monsters.
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