Just got round to watching this. I cannot fathom what certain posters are referring to regarding abuse and SS. I don't know if its because I come from a boxing family but nothing in this programme shocked me at all. Out of interest what would we be expecting SS to deal with and do?
I wasn't particularly impressed by the cock fighting and the fact that they don't seem to think certain laws (seatbelts, carseats, driving whilst on the phone etc) don't apply to them. I also certainly wouldn't say that the fact fighting happens so regularly is positive, or the benefit of there being such an emphasis on the subject although I'm not sure how much of that was edited or influenced by the shows presence, but it does seem to be the way issues are resolved in their culture, and realistically lots of people do fight. If you go into various town centres of a night you can see it, at least in the gypsy fights (most of the time although clearly not always) there are referees and lots of talk about being clean and fair. It generally doesn't appear to be just brawling.
The kids and I suppose the overall parenting is a bit on the rough side but I think they both came across as quite loving even good fathers. Both encouraged the children to try at school, were openly affectionate, the children seemed happy and confident and both the fathers featured openly said infront of their children that they don't want them to fight and they should try to avoid it. The boys were learning to box which happens in hundreds of boxing gyms across the country. I imagine if its not something you're used to seeing it can take you by surprise but its not that unusual, just like the hunting, wouldn't be my choice but its a hobby for a lot of people in this country.