187 / 244
GAZETTE
SEPTEMBER 1979
child care order in a courtroom situation. To my mind the
laws of this country are very weak in giving support to
social workers or other workers in the child care field who
are trying to protect the physical and mental health of
abused and neglected children. I know in many instances
we are reduced to bluffing to try and protect a child
knowing in fact that there is little in law to back us up.
Naturally social workers and others concerned feel very
insecure in these circumstances, and may tend to defer
decisions unnecessarily long because of the daunting
experience of having to forcibly remove a child from its
home against its parents' wishes. I know, from my own
point of view, I am reluctant to fulfill the role of the much
threatened doctor who puts children away. It is also not
particularly helpful to die image of a community based
child guidance clinic which is trying to overcome many of
the deeply rooted fears and resistence to psychiatry and
particularly child psychiatry.
It may be that what is needed most of all is some
interim step between the place of safety order, which only
lasts for a short period and a child care order which tends
to be very final and drastic. Although I am not an expert
on the alternative possibilities, I would feel some sort of
supervisory order, which tends to operate in England,
may be very helpful. As well as this I do not see why
children cannot be removed from their homes from
assessment and decision-making as now applies to cases
of delinquents who come before the Courts, and in fact
are sent to the Assessment Centre in Finglas, Co. Dublin.
Probably the most difficult situation of all is where you
strongly suspect one parent is seriously disturbed, (e.g.,
hidden psychiatric illness; psycopathic personality;
Incestuous parent).
The more normal parent has often given up and is often
afraid to take action or maybe is caught up in the
distrubed parent's delusioned system. The disturbed
parend is never seen and the malignancy in the family is
usually skilfully concealed from the outside world. This is
in contrast to the battering alcoholic parent about whom
the whole world knows. These cases can present in very
ordinary ways such as bedwetting in a child or failure to
learn, or more rarely through a sudden dramatic gesture
such as an overdose in a family member. Often clues are
gradually picked up from a chance remark of a child or
an attending parents' slip of the tongue or possibly
calculated leaks to the doctor or social worker. When
sufficient evidence is accumulated to suspect the non-
attending parent, efforts are then made to see him/her.
You then come up against a blank wall. If you push too
hard the family is withdrawn from therapy. Somehow or
other access is needed to determine if more drastic steps
should be taken such as seeking a child care order.
Warring parents
Another common problem seen frequently in child
guidance clinics is the child torn between two separated,
divorced and warring parents, both often seeking
exclusive rights to the child to the detriment of the other
marital partner. The child's needs often receive low
priority and a need to hurt one another seems much more
paramount, and the child is often used as a weapon in this
war. Court cases can drag on, visiting rights can be
haggled over, and court decisions concerning custody and
access are appealed. Both solicitors and doctors line up
on either side of the fence determined to win the case for
their client or their patient. Sometimes the real needs of
the child may be lost in the midst of all this.
These children frequently love both parents and
become very confused when they hear conflicting stories
from the warring parents about one another and do not
know who or what to believe. If this tug of war situation
continues over a longer period they have great difficulty in
identifying clearly with one parent or another and
deciding which parent they would like to grow up to be
like. As so often in these sort of situations, I have found
myself trying to carry out a holding operation to prevent
the children involved becoming very disturbed or even
psychotic. I feel strongly, as recommended by the
excellent book 'Beyond the Best Interests of the Child',
written by Goldstein, Annafroyd, and Solnit, that these
sort of cases should be resolved quickly and finally in
favour of one parent or another, than be allowed to drag
on over a long period of time. The same book
recommends that the parent given custody should have
the right to make all decisions pertaining to the child
concerned, including allowing visiting by the other parent
or not. This is, I am well aware, against routine practice
and may in some ways seem unfair to the other partner. It
depends very much whether you view the needs of the
adult or the child as being more important. If you
consider that the child's needs are more important, he is
much more likely to settle down, readjust and develop
normally if he is not subject to a tug-o-war situation
between the two parents. This may mean of course he will
be brought up entirely by one parent, but this parent will
have the confidence that he or she will not be harrassed
and will have been given a vote of confidence to carry on
unhindered the job of parenting.
Reports to Solicitors
I would like to mention a word about reports to
solicitors about these sort of cases. Doctors, child
psychiatrists, and other workers in the field of child care
are often asked to submit reports to solicitors stating their
views about suitable custody arrangements, and visiting
rights for the child. Copies of these reports are often
requested by the solicitors acting for the other party. This
sort of situation has placed myself, and I know many of
my colleagues, in a dilemma on several occasions. If one
gives a totally complete report it is very likely to
jeopardise any further working relationship with one or
both parents. I understand in fact these reports are often
shown to the parents concerned. It would seem to me a
much more satisfactory arrangement, as happened to me
recently, of sending the report direct to the Judce
concerned knowing that it would be kept in confidence
and would be for his eyes only. This then leaves the
doctor or the social worker concerned free to work on
with the family concerned without fear of damaging their
mutual relationship.
I would like to say a word about the time element
involved in these sorts of Court cases. To an adult a week
is a week, a month is a month, a year is a year. To a child
living in an unhappy, stressful situation, each day is
barely tolerable. A week is a very long time and a month
can feel like eternity. This then has obvious implications
for quick resolution of Court cases mentioned above.
Another situation which commonly arises in the field of
child care is the decision confronting a doctor, social
worker, solicitor or marriage counsellor etc. whether or
190