Social worker experience of fatal child abuse

Abstract

This research study used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to examine the lived experiences of four social work practitioners who have been directly involved in cases of fatal child abuse. The research examines how the tragedies impacted upon the workers in both their personal and professional capacities, and locates those experiences within the relevant organisational context. The study reveals that all the workers were significantly affected in different ways by the tragedies. Although there is some evidence of good practice, there is evidence that the emotional and support needs of the workers were largely ignored by the organisations in which they practised. The study reveals that, following the children's deaths, the supervision the social workers received was often inappropriate and inconsistent, and the serious case reviews (SCR) that were undertaken further contributed to the isolation and blame already being experienced by the workers involved. The research examines how such factors as media responses, organisational culture, working practices and the serious case review system combine to provide a means by which systemic failures are minimised and ignored in favour of attributing blame to the actions or inaction of individual social work practitioners.