What did you think of "Accused" on BBC2?

[maazaa]

Just wondering what you thought.....

Excellent documentary I've just been chatting to a friend about it. What came over very very strongly, is that every social worker entering the profession needs to be given a copy of the complete works of Franz Kafka and tested on them all, with particular reference to The Castle. That mad social worker reminded me of loony conspiracy theorists, who simply will not believe that their version of events (like aliens carrying them off to outer space and conducting anal probes on them) may not be true. She was truly frightening. I do hope that particular hysteria has passed now, but I wonder which hysteria will seize them next.

Fancy still debating their guilt this far on, that crazy lady social worker was unreal, as if the children would not have come forward by now and revealed the truth as adults.

That was a shameful abuse of the powers
I thought the comment My Green made about being trained to talk to uneducated lower sociio economic familes was quite telling as well.

I can see why they stepped in with the W family perhaps given the history, but why not take away the suspected abuser and let the children get on just as they were recovering and settling in
This kind of thing has massive social repercussions in the future.

They really have no respect for anyone else do they? Those children are now adults and are quite categorical that they were not abused. But the social workers don't have enough respect for their intelligence and integrity to do them the courtesy of believing them even now.

I also found it interesting that the woman said it was a disastrous verdict because it left the children as liars. A very strange way to describe children who had been through what they had been from someone who works in child protection, I thought. It screamed volumes to me about her attitude to children and what is wrong with the social work profession if it tolerates people like her in it on a wide scale.

What was also interesting is the way the now grown up boy said that it was thanks to the close-knit solidarity of the community that the children had managed to get home. Which made me wonder how much rampaging various SS depts might have done up and down the country in places where the community is not so united and determined, where people have much more atomised and alienated lives.

It was mad. I felt so sorry for the parents and children but also for the W children. You could easily see how the children might have made up anything to get out of that room and pressure. The sad thing is that one could say that the abuse suffered by all those taken was as a result of social services not the alledged ritual.

It was indeed Kafka-esque. The lady social worker was so adamant in her beleif that "of course they would deny it - that just proves it"

At least the Glaswegian Child Protection Officer did say he had doubts, even if he still thought something had gone on.

And to send the 15 year old to a Young Offenders Insitution for 4 weeks just beggars belief. His mother is obiously still deeply upset by what heppened at that time - there was so much emotion in her voice.

What I felt it didn't go into enough was how things have changed as a result of the inquiry that followed. It said at the beginning that the consequences had far reaching effects in how we treat similar suspected cases. In what way? Do they listen to the children? Do they check out practicalities of stories told?

As Piffle says, why didn't they take away the suspected abuser rather than all the younger children?

I also though the local councillor was great: the footage of him at the first mass meeting was fantastic - he was so angry. His body language was priceless.

I'd have been interested to hear from some of the toher families involved - but can understand why they wanted to put it behgind them.

It's not surprising that the two boys, who now have children of their own, apparently now have a deep distrust of social workers.

The Herald had this article "Whatever happens, I will never trust them" about the programme and the events of the time.

Yes that struck me PB - how could they possibly have thought it was appropriate to put the boy into a young offender's institution? What the fuck were they thinking? Really the mind boggles.

i hope they repeat this i missed it, sounds like it was interesting

Caligula - his mum spent the time terrified that he would be abused at the Young Offenders' Institution Absolutely mind boggling.