Tuesday 14 December 2010

Not Helping To Dispel The Myth…

…of social workers as naïve, credulous fools who lap up every sob story they are given by their ‘clients’, is it?
A senior social worker heaped praise on Baby P’s mother after interviewing her about the toddler’s injuries four months before his death.
/facepalm
Sue Gilmore thanked Tracey Connelly for being ‘really open and completely honest’.
Boy, was her face red, eh? Mind you, she was luckier than Baby P, as it wasn’t blood…
Throughout the tape, Mrs Gilmore, a senior team manager in the social work department at Haringey, north London, appears eager to accept Connelly’s explanations for her son’s injuries.

And when Connelly says she wishes social workers would ‘back off and leave me alone’ she sympathises, saying that is a ‘straightforward thing to want’.
*grinds teeth*
Mrs Gilmore left Haringey Council in January 2008 and has never faced disciplinary proceedings.

She recorded the hour-long interview as part of a course in new social work methods aimed at encouraging parents to cooperate with the authorities.

She failed the training assignment and did not complete the course.
I think the only thing to do with Haringey Social Services is to sack the lot, and start over again…
Through her solicitor, Mrs Gilmore said the interview was not ‘investigative’, and that she co-operated with police and answered all their questions.
It might not have been ‘investigative’, but we certainly discovered a lot, didn’t we?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its difficult to imagine how anyone could have missed the risk to P but judging her mother by the standards of most is not going to help. While not defending any of those 'professionals' tasked with his care I bet they see some 'orrible sorts like P's mother that make shit parents but could not and will not be so explicitly causal in their child’s murder. Why don't we just temporarily sterilise men and women on benefits or recieving other 'help' from social services? It wouldn’t have helped P but it’s a step in the right direction, having said that P’s mother should be permanently sterilised.

Anonymous said...

and i include those on any benefits including sick note benefits. put simply if you’re not capable of financially or otherwise supporting your children and society is trying to help you, you should not have more babies until and if.........

Captain Haddock said...

Social Workers ?

I've shit 'em ...

There isn't a single one of 'em worth a wet wank ..

Anonymous said...

never really had much exposure to social workers, when i have come into contact with a self confessed one i have tried to appear interested in what they do but have found myself losing interest in enquiring as a direct consequence of the flim flam explanations received so far. i understand there are some degree studies you can do to be a qualified social worker but i would have thought an 'interesting' upbringing might be a better qualification rather than a mediocre result in a non scientific degree course leading to a vicarious job. one tried to stop me smoking once, that didn't work.

Chuckles said...

Not just Haringey, all of them.

Hogdayafternoon said...

Bring back Beatrix Potter. She knew when someone was very, very naughty. Wait a mo`, maybe that's why Soc Serv's were aka `The Flopsy Bunnies`?

blueknight said...

I blame the 'system' that allows or even encourages Social Workers to be soft, fluffy and non-judgemental. Once in a while they need to be able to kick ass....

Anonymous said...

The clown doing the interviewing was well thought of - very worrying. Cops, of course, struggle with the opposite - failing to spot who is telling the truth because of stereotyping, rather than being swooned into more 'positive' interpretation.
Almost none of us are any good at truth spotting from behavioural cues, and we watched this video knowing what a shit Baby P's mother was.
I note this supervisor had time to try to further her career through fanciful training, but not to help the child. The video is evidence of her unreliability - so was it seen by anyone in the enquiry that believed her ahead of the scapegoat?

JuliaM said...

"...judging her mother by the standards of most is not going to help."

The frightening thought is that maybe she is unique, and maybe she isn't...

"I blame the 'system' that allows or even encourages Social Workers to be soft, fluffy and non-judgemental. Once in a while they need to be able to kick ass...."

They seem perfectly able to do this when the mother is a little bit simple and they want her newborn for adoption...

" Cops, of course, struggle with the opposite - failing to spot who is telling the truth because of stereotyping, rather than being swooned into more 'positive' interpretation."

And yet, both groups probably deal with the same 'clients'..

"...we watched this video knowing what a shit Baby P's mother was."

'Trust. But verify.'

She forgot that last bit.