ABSTRACT
‘Police and social work can only effectively work together insofar as they are able to respect each other and understand the problems of the other service.’ Social service is something that all kinds of untrained people in the community are able to do and the police particularly. Social work, on the other hand, means the practice of a skill based on extensive training which enables one person to help others to come to terms with illness, handicap, misfortune, disadvantage and so on. Attitudes need to change on both sides: social workers have to make clear to young offenders that their anti-social behaviour is quite unacceptable to the community. The problem of non-accidental injury to children is an area where the police and social work need to have close contact and where differing interests are involved. Working parties who are responsible for screening children at risk and dealing with individual cases, involve both social workers and policemen, among other professional groups.
