Social work intervention in child protection matters is usually referred to as ‘safeguarding’ but this can be misleading. Whilst the provision of informal safeguarding services is important, 'child protection' is a different concept and is concerned with protecting children from 'significant harm'. The appropriate use of authority is therefore of central importance in child protection work. Whether or not there are grounds for compulsory measures, social workers should carry out their negotiations with parents from a clear and explicit power base. Their skills in developing effective working relationships with parents without losing sight of the over-riding duty to protect the child are at the core of their work. The qualities of sound judgement, wisdom and tact in the social worker are profoundly important in view of the risks to children if mistakes are made.

Many of the families coming to the attention of children's services have multiple needs and entrenched problems and the social worker must seek to understand these within the wider family and community context. The assessment of the situation carried out by the social worker will be crucial when considering risk and intervention. Unfortunately, recent scandals suggest that some social work practice with children at risk of abuse or neglect has been of a poor professional standard. Accreditation does nothing to remedy this because its focus is on offering a veneer of professionalism rather than on developing the skills required in working effectively with families where children are at greatest risk.

Government guidance about interagency child protection arrangements is based on an understanding of the tensions and conflicts within the Children Act 1989. The guidance does not determine what should happen in an individual case – this requires professional judgement. For example, 'working in partnership with parents' is an important principle but occasionally social workers need to take action to protect the child without consulting parents. The training of social workers should therefore give them a sound understanding of their legal powers and responsibilities, as well as the nature of effective inter-agency collaboration and how the legal process can be used to obtain a more detailed assessment of the family situation.

Children's social workers will certainly want to develop a deeper understanding of the capacity of parents to meet the child's needs and to collaborate with the child's school and community resources before deciding what action is required. In the longer term the aim is to get beyond normal politeness and to be able to raise sensitive subjects, ask probing questions and explore things more deeply. Invariably, there will be barriers to an authentic meeting between the social worker and family, such as barriers of class, race and religion. Much will depend on whether the social worker has the necessary skills – including empathy and intuition – to develop effective working relationships.

Unfortunately, some children's social workers struggle with the stressful nature of this work, become angry about resource constraints and soon decide that frontline child protection work is not for them. The resulting high turnover of staff is not conducive to raising standards of practice in children's services.

Of those who stay there may be some who have had emotionally damaging experiences themselves and it is this that has drawn then into this work. Sometimes their own difficult relationships from the past lie hidden and unresolved and in the course of their work they may become aligned with individuals with similar experiences. Obviously, empathic understanding is an essential component of good social work practice and can be a powerful driver of personal growth and change. However, there may be a risk of the social worker getting into a collusive relationship with some parents and losing sight of their over-riding legal duty to protect the child - something which should be picked up and addressed in supervision.

The social work role is complex. Although decision-making is a shared activity the evidence provided by a social worker will be crucial when considering 'risk of significant harm' and the need for some kind of protective intervention. I am not convinced that the training that is given to social workers prepares them adequately for child protection work. If the current arrangements fail to address the emotional complexity of child protection work there is little chance of improving services to children at greatest risk. Obviously, social workers are interested in supporting personal growth and development but they must never forget their legal duties and responsibilities.

Too many families experience the hit-and-miss nature of social work intervention by children's services. While the notion that children's social work is a 'profession' is taken for granted by middle class academics, the commonly held view is that social work is actually a 'semi-profession'. I believe it is time to develop the current framework of 'safeguarding' so that it includes a deeper understanding of social workers' legal responsibilities to protect children at greatest risk and their duty to work constructively with the families of these children. The aim would be to raise standards of practice and restore confidence in the capacity of children's social workers to protect children from significant harm.

Hilary Searing

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