ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on concerns about social worker relationships with young children through an overview of the findings of some of the key child abuse inquiries and serious case reviews that have taken place in the UK over the last 60 years. The chapter shows that strikingly similar difficulties have emerged at different times, in different places and with different children. These difficulties have included infrequent and inconsistent visits, visits that focus on the parents and the lack of direct personal communication by the social worker with the children. The chapter concludes by arguing that there is a need for practitioners to refocus on the importance and value of effective relationships with young children.
