Harm to children and young people seems to be reported almost daily in the media – from the renewed interest in so-called grooming gangs, to tragic cases such as that of Logan Mwangi that horrify the entire UK for weeks at a time. These cases shock and disturb us, but when it comes to blaming someone, social workers can be painted as incompetent or unwilling to act to prevent harm to children. Rishi Sunak recently claimed social workers often “ignore” sexual abuse when it is reported to them. Prof Andrew Cooper suggests that the pain of knowing that children are harmed is too great to bear, and the perceived incompetence of social workers functions as a defence for society against having to tolerate this horrifying knowledge.
Names of children tragically killed by a known adult live on in our memories and populate images in the media. The case of Peter Connelly (known as Baby P) in Haringey, which came to public attention in 2008, is probably the best known. I was sacked from my position as Haringey’s director of education and children’s services by the then secretary of state for children, Ed Balls, on live TV. This was less than a month after Peter’s mother, her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s brother were convicted of “causing or allowing” his death. I was closely followed by four social workers and a paediatrician from Great Ormond Street children’s hospital (GOSH). The scapegoating and vilification of me and other social workers in this case and others has had many unintended consequences.
