ABSTRACT
For some children in difficult conflict-ridden cases there obviously has to be a transfer of parental rights - not necessarily to give permanency but to give protection and a measure of stability. The research project has shown that voluntary care can occasionally be used to good effect in cases of child abuse. In cases like these, social workers have clearly used Section 2 of the Child Care Act 1980 as a step downwards or upwards on a ladder of compulsion. The children seem to be receiving particularly unjust treatment - because they have both the moral and the legal basis on which a claim to parenting can be made. The social work profession has certainly managed to maintain its position - not by withstanding but by responding successfully to new demands. Social work practice may be criticised from the point of view of community values, since there is a larger body of people to whom social workers are accountable.
