I heard with horror about the two children who were stabbed to death and the third child critical in hospital. What is happening out there it seems that every week more children die or abuse is uncovered.

I agree, Lins. What I'm especially struck by are the number of children who are murdered by their fathers. There seem be an ever-growing number of cases where men are killing their kids as an ultimate act of vengeance against former partners. I'd guess that in some cases these families may be known to agencies but many are not. Take the case of John Hogan, who threw his six-year-old son from a hotel balcony in Crete in 2006. There are plenty more similar cases.

I just wonder what is happening to make males and females harm their children in such a way what is going through their minds if there are any therapists out there please feel free to share thoughts.  Is society that selfish and closed off we dont know hwta is happening in our own back yard. Obviously noone knows what has happened to the family yet but I am sure the media will have at least 5 different angles on it by tonight, but what I mean is what support in the community is there for people who are struggling? Whatevea has happened is yet again a tragedy. 

We're also experiencing an upswing in these types of cases out here - there have been six children in three separate families murdered by their fathers in the last two months. They were all stabbed - four children were killed as a result of mental health issues and concurrent drug misuse on the part of the father. The other two children died at the hands of an untreated schizophrenic. None of the women (mothers) were taken seriously when they tried to get help. One was even videotaped at the police station predicting her own death and how it was to be carried out. She was sent home. So, so sad.

Goodness Nadine that is really terrible. Could I cheeky and ask have the workers been offered any counselling to deal with the trauma of these situations.

Hi Lins,

The emergency services workers first on the scene(s) were offered and sought counselling. The social workers attached to one of the families, typically, were not. I had an offender on my caseload literally blow his brains out about three years ago. It happened less than a few hours after I saw him, to advise of a disclosure that would have put him away for some time. It took the management two weeks to ask if I was OK, (I was, but that is hardly the point). We now have worker initiated critical incident debriefing, if needed, after increasingly violent/threatening incidents and deaths. Some workers take it up, some don't. My other half is also a social worker, so I tend to debrief with him. I am not too good at the professionally led stuff.