Child Protection and the Need for the Reappraisal of the Social Worker-Client Relationship

Renewed interest in child abuse has brought both an increase in employment opportunities for social workers and considerable criticism, especially in Britain, for failing to protect abused children. This article proposes that the development of distinct child protection services has not been matched by the necessary review of the traditional social worker-client relationship. The central place of this relationship is critically analysed and it is suggested that its uni-directional nature inadequately prepares social workers for child protection work. The paradoxical relationship that can develop between hostages and their captors, the ‘Stockholm Syndrome’, may contribute to problems in child protection work. Social work in child abuse cases may involve working with involuntary clients, some of whom may be violent towards others as well as to their children. The effects of such relationships on social workers and on their practice must be examined if child protection work is to be fully understood.