Fair enough, Jacqui. But it can also be demonstrated that both posts are indicative of the commonly held assumption that open season on social workers is somehow acceptable ... and that its our role to continually soak up abuse founded on ignorance like we are a battalion of human sponges.

It also leads to a position where social workers are almost embarrassed to admit what they do for a living, or feel they have to apologise for it or make a joke out of it. Because there are a few bad ones (as in any profession) we all get tarred with the same brush. I think its about time that as a profession we took a more militant, assertive, combatative stance and held our heads high about the thousands and thousands of interventions that take place up and down the country every day that don't get in the news - because they were successful. Social workers - and here I'm talking about the vast majority of us - doing their jobs well just isn't sensationalist enough to get on the news and doesn't fulfill the revenge-fantasies-by-proxy of people like our two posters above who I quoted in my last post. Yet - if it wasn't for the hard work and dedication of thousands of social workers up and down the country, I really shudder to think what sort of society we'd be living in. One that makes this one look utopian by comparison!

Its also notable that in awful situations like this, the press and their copyists seem more angry with the social workers than with the actual perpetrators. And they're certainly far more angry with the social workers than they are with the doctors, police, health visitors and other professionals involved. To me, that makes it as much about another opportunity to vent society's 'common sense' received wisdom about social workers as it does about the particular case.

By the way, if anyone's worried I'm neglecting the job, I'm on leave today and actually neglecting the DIY...