Protecting Our Children
Sign in to watch this content please.
- Episode
- Episode 1 - Damned if they do, damned if they don’t
- Broadcast Info
- 2012 (59 mins)
- Description
- Susanne is a newly qualified child protection social worker in Bristol. As a matter of course, all newly-qualifieds are given simple, low-risk families to work with. However the most straightforward situations often develop into something far more ominous. Susanne’s very first case is to help a family with their three year-old boy, Toby. He has global developmental delay. The family need support and advice about how to improve his upbringing and the conditions of their untidy small flat. However Mike, the father, is hostile towards Susanne so she can’t help the family in the way she would like. The risk in the case increases when unexplained bruises are found on Toby. More experienced social workers are drafted in to help Susanne but the parents still won’t accept the support and their parenting of Toby remains in question. After months of trying to affect change the team manger Sallyanne decides to take the case to court. Contrary to popular opinion, social workers do not have the power to remove children from their parents. As the situation deteriorates further, Tiffany gets pregnant. Her unborn child becomes another case for the social workers. Shot over the best part of a year with remarkable access, ‘Damned if they do, Damned if they don’t’ shows the unfolding process that social workers go through to try and determine the best future for the children. It’s an emotionally fraught situation that shows the inside track for child protection social workers. It’s an unbiased observational film where we get to understand both the professionals’ and parents’ points of view both revolving around Toby and his future welfare. The programme is the first of a series of 4 which follows social workers in Bristol working with a range of child protection cases. This programme charts the progress of a neglect case through case conference, court proceedings to eventual decisions about the children future (children age 3 and newly born). It features footage from both the parents perspective and that of the social workers. The whole programme would be of value to social workers or to those who want to get an understanding of the social work role. These extracts show significant features of the case to promote discussion for a wider children and young people audience about the difficult decisions to be made in cases of neglect, balancing the wishes of parents with the welfare of children.
- Genre
- Social Work; Law
How to cite this record
The Open University, "Protecting Our Children". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ou/search/index.php/prog/82432 (Accessed 04 Jan 2025)