‘The kind of journalism that breeds mistrust in social work’: ITV’s ‘Don’t Take My Child’

ITV's Exposure on 'forced adoption' provoked a passionate reaction on Twitter and raised some interesting issues.

By Luke Stevenson on July 16, 2014 in Child safeguarding, Children, Fostering and adoption, Looked after children, Your Say

Last night ITV aired ‘Don’t Take My Child’, an Exposure documentary investigating so-called ‘forced adoption’ and the families who say they have suffered unjustly at the hands of it.

Unsurprisingly, the documentary provoked many responses from people with negative experiences of the social care system, while social workers agreed families need a safer and more effective outlet for their grief and pain.

Some criticised the programme’s lack of balance, but responded positively to questions about the 2014 Children and Families Act and the politicisation of adoption, as well as media pressure creating a “highly defensive” atmosphere in social care.

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2 Responses to ‘The kind of journalism that breeds mistrust in social work’: ITV’s ‘Don’t Take My Child’

Davion Plowright July 16, 2014 at 8:50 pm #

This ITV program was well needed and did not go far enough to expose the overwhelming malpractice and incompetence of some social workers and other practitioners. Everytime a parent raises issues surrounding injustice that is experienced they are quickly labelled as disgruntled or bitter. The truth of the matter is genuine social workers often leave the profession because of the unethical environment that currently exist in social care and the ones that remain are often complicit with and support the wrongdoings that occur. More Social workers are increasingly becoming unacceptably arrogant due to the fact that in most cases the family courts accept whatever they present. They often forget that the family courts are secret and wont be for much longer. The entire profession should start taking seriously the actions of the rogue social workers that infest the profession. Who feels it knows!
- Kathy July 17, 2014 at 5:23 pm #
  
  Agree – Let’s see an end to Secret Family Courts -SW need no more than a suspicion to remove a child how can that be the way forward for SW practice