Hi, I have lurked (mostly) through this thread, and have followed it with interest. I have experience of working within Children and Families Social Work, although in Scotland, where the system seems to be somewhat different, in that the decision to remove a child from parents is not made by the Court but by a panel of three independant volunteers.
I think that some interesting points have been made, and that unfortunately some Social Workers have been less that professional in expressing their views. OK, so its an internet forum, not the work enviroment, but if you identify yourself as a Social Worker, you have a duty to uphold the values of the profession. This is enshrined in the codes of conduct which we sign up to (in Scotland at least, I assume the same is true in England and Wales)
However, there are a couple of points I would like to make.
I think that part of the reason that things got so heated here is that JH's description of a Social Worker as evil for removing children because she was called fat is so completely unbelievable to anyone working in the field. Not because all Social Workers are perfect (because they are not, not by a long shot) or because we cannot accept that there are bad practitioners out there (there are, far too many of them) but because when you work in C+F, being called fat is a good day. In the course of the average day of work, SWs are called far worse on a regular basis, face threats of physical violence and on occasion are actually assaulted. This is part of the job and you learn in the first week to brush it off. If you took a child into care on that basis, then you would never stop. It's completely rediculous. It is understandable however, that a frightened and desperate mother would contact JH and tell him this, as she is unlikely to be able to admit to the real reasons why her children are being removed (I make no judgement as to whether they are fair or not). I am not, by the way, arguing that children are never removed who should not be, it does happen, just that this particular example is mad, and the fact that JH not only accepts it without question and then describes the worker as evil calls his credability into question for those who work in the system. Which is a shame, as the system undoubtably needs outside scrutiny.
As for why SWs on this thread became defensive, try and picture yourself in a job where, as mentioned before, your safety is a threat. You are not highly paid, but are expected to work very late whenever required, in highly stressful situations. You have enough paperwork to constitute a full time job in its own right, but you must fit this in with the actual time needed to spend with families, but the paperwork must get done, on time. Your work is underfunded, so that you cannot actually do even a fraction of the work that you can see needs done. You are dealing with the most heartbreaking situations, day in day out, and there is rarely a happy ending. If you make a mistake, or even just fail to accurately predict the future, a vulnerable child could die or be abused, and this will be on your conscience forever. And as recent events have shown, the media may chase you, you may recieve death threats from the public. Despite spending quite a long time qualifying for your job, and working hard, you find you have to lie to new aquaintances or risk their judgement, as the profession is hated so much. Your team has 40% less staff than they need as a minimum, but no one applies for new posts, as the image the job has is so poor. But the job needs done, so you do that extra 40%. But there is no relief on the horizon. And then you come online, and there is yet another "child snatcher" thread, in which nothing but critisism is dealt out. So, yes, you might become a bit defensive. No excuse for the insults though.
Yes there are bad workers, yes mistakes are made, but the vast majority of work done by SW is never publicised, never seen, and is in the best interests of the children. For every baby P, there are hundreds of children whose lives are saved who you will never hear about. The bad workers should be weeded out, but while such a persecutary attitute towards SW continues, there is no one coming forward to replace them. As NN says, the system will completely disolve without workers, and children will be left at risk.
Sorry for the long post, and the spelling.