Shame and guilt in child protection social work: New interpretations and opportunities for practice

Abstract

Shame is an underexplored and misunderstood emotion.It can be described as an acute awareness of one's flawed and unworthy self.It is the primary social emotion and one of our most intimate feelings developed within the context of our family of origin which can have a devastating effect on an individual and their relationships.Social workers are routinely faced with issues of shame as an intrinsic consequence of the matters with which social work deals and also as a result of how both families and workers experience the child protection process.This paper outlines the research on shame and guilt to argue for a reevaluation of the key challenges faced by child protection social workers.It is argued that shame experienced by parents and carers potentially plays a significant role in these challenges, while it may be argued 'guilt' has had a bad press and may potentially play an important role in the successes.An argument is made for a shame-reducing child protection social work practice with some key themes for practitioners to consider in their attempt to improve the accuracy of assessments and intervention.

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