Despair was first my reaction to reading
the thoughts of Sharon Shoesmith (the ex-director of Haringey children’s
services who was sacked in 2008 following the death of Baby Peter Connolly) on
government proposals on introducing mandatory reporting or a duty to act.
Community Care reports Shoesmith as saying
that the proposals, which might result in social workers and other professionals facing
prison sentences when child protection cases go wrong, are an “opportunity” for
the social work profession “… to communicate the challenges of the job and to
mount a proper legal defence when social workers come under attack”. Apparently
she believes that introducing new criminal offences could provide an
opportunity for social workers to obtain a fair hearing.
As far as I can see that amounts to saying
that a culture of blame and fear is best tackled by providing more
opportunities to blame and instil fear. But perhaps Shoesmith’s puzzling
remarks are an attempt at what psychologists call paradoxical intervention, a technique in which the patient (in this
case the government) is encouraged to do the exact opposite of the desired
outcome!
We can but hope.
