An interesting blog entry caught my eye. Louise O’Neill, a
child protection social worker, writes in the Guardian Social Care Network blog
about how she draws on her knowledge of philosophy to inform her child
protection practice.
Most social workers would, I think, find talk of Kant’s categorical imperative a bit
obscure, but I think many would agree with Louise’s conclusion that people –
whether they be children or parents - should always be treated as ends in
themselves, not as means to some other ends.
And I expect that most social workers would share her
concern that a social work culture, dominated by tight timescales and a focus
on meeting targets, is incompatible with treating parents and children as
unique moral individuals and trying to understand their complex problems, needs and
experiences.
