The BAby P case has affected me more than any other news story I have come across in my life, probably because my two are a similar age. I cannot even begin to imagine what that poor little boy went through or what on earth was going on in the heads of the perpetrators. But we must try to understand how it happened if we are ever to prevent it from happening again.
Drawing on some really good points others have put forward, I think we have to accept that there our segments in our society that just do not follow the social rules governing the rest of us. I left my ex due to to DV and had a visit from a social worker checking that I was ok and warning me that if I got back with my ex I would have to have a SW assigned to me to check on my children's wellbeing. I didn't need warning, but I am well aware that for every woman who, like me, leaves, there are many more who don't, whose children are being damaged by their upbringing. When this comes to third or fourth generation down the line, who knows what passes for acceptable behaviour? Is this what might have happened in Baby P's home? One of the reasons I left my ex was because I recognised that I was starting to compromise on some of my parenting values in order to keep the peace with my ex. I recognised it early and left when my twins were 4 months, but I had the advantage of coming from a stable, loving, healthy family background and was well placed to see that my ex's behaviour was unacceptable and damaging. I apologise to anyone who feels that I am hijacking this thread and turning it into one about DV, but I really feel that tackling DV will do a lot to reduce instances of child abuse. I personally am of the opinion that we need to start holding classes about it in schools sp that a new generation grows up more aware, less accepting of it, and more willing to break the cycle. Even Baby P's 'mother' and 'step-father' were chidren once, probably brought up in households where DV was the norm, and it does desensitise you over time. Nothing will ever excuse these people for what they have done, there is no justification, no matter what their own childhoods were like, but we must recognise the problem in order to start working on a solution.
Another thought that occurs to me about prevention is the need for extra training and extra funding for SWs working in areas like Haringey. I have had some involvement with SWs through fostering, and I would lay money on the fact that this case would never have happened where I live. The SWs here are very good indeed. But I live in a rural area with few pockets of socio-economic deprivation, so a case like this would stand out early on and even overworked SWs would have seen the need to remove this child. In a densely populated area like Haringey though, with all the problems of deprivation rife there, it must be easy for SWs to not react with the shock that we all feel must have been inevitable. If every child you visit lives in poverty, it's easy to turn a blind eye to the fact that a child is living in less than hygeinic surroundings. If most cases you see are of neglect, it's easy to assume that those latest bruises are caused by mum not paying enough attention rather than deliberately inflicting them. Don't get me wrong, I think that the SW team in Haringey failed this child badly, and someone must be held accountable. I am dismayed at teh blame-shifting that seems to be going on - yes a little boy died and I'm sorry, but it wasn't on my watch so that's ok then... It's not ok. At all! But why did he slip through the net like this? Social workers in this type of setting need extra training, to recognise the coverups that clever abusers often utilise. A 17-month-old toddler should have had a physical check up on every visits from a social worker, not left in a buggy, and a paediatrician examining an at-risk child should have alarm bells ringing if the child seemed "too cranky" to examine properly. There were failings at every level, and if procedures were followed correctly, then the procedures are wrong, simple as. But a witch hunt won't protect future children. Change will.
Just a few thoughts. Sorry to ramble.