by Carolynn J. Middleton B.Sc.
Lately I have had a growing concern about this voodoo practice, they call Social Work. Some person has had their common sense educated right out of them and they, in turn, have done the same to a vast number of people who now hold degrees, in this subject; (to loosely use the term, “subject”). I’ve countless texts, on Social Work and most of them lack, a great deal in the fundamentals, that make our species the civilized social structure, it is today. What concerns me the most about the natural course, our society is being directed by these over priced, over indulgent Social Worker types is the method by which they treat everyone like test subjects, in some grand experiment. In my travels, as a paralegal, I’ve dealt with a vast number of social workers and I find them about as sincere as, “Tammy Fae Baker”… ( and we all know about her, don’t we…?)
I’m very concerned about their condescending attitude, their patronizing mannerisms and their technique for manipulation and distortion of the facts in any case. They use words like concern, feelings and best interests… but what worries me the most is some twenty something social worker with little or no personal experience, with children, dictating to someone else, how they should manage their affairs. Even worse, it seems, is that they seem to have a standard methodology for everything, regardless of the details of any particular case or the intricacies of any particular family.
If a Teacher, within the Educational forum happens to abuse, neglect, or seduce a child, there is a vast bureaucracy engaged, to protect the teacher; the Teacher’s Union, the Principal, the School Board and even the Department/Ministry of Education. In truth, they don’t give a damned about the Teacher or the student. They just want to protect their own butts from any kind of scandal that will affect the security of their own private little world, at work.
But what of parents… Children don’t come with owner’s manuals and/or a complete set of instructions detailing each and every phase of a child’s rearing. There is good reason for this. Each child is an individual; inherent with many of the traits and characteristics of his/her lineage. As such, there is an almost limitless variety of techniques and applications, involved. It’s like going to the doctor and complaining that one doesn’t feel well. Without a much more detailed diagnosis and synopses of the condition, there is no hope for the doctor to provide any kind of treatment and/or cure. Moreover, there seems to be little, in the way of support services, for parents. By the time a child is considered to be abused and/or neglected, in some way, shape or form, the parents have already probably come to the ends of their ropes, with some kind of frustration or other.
It is totally illogical to believe that a woman would suffer through morning sickness, distortion of her once proud features, go through an exasperating labor and deliver part of herself, in the new life, she’s brought forth, into the world and just not give a damned about it. What parents, everywhere need, is a system that will support and guide them, in their dilemma, without resorting to a punitive form of retribution. But that is the backbone of the Judicial System, isn’t it?
Lawyers are governed by ethics, in that anything they are told by their client, is held in confidence. Doctors, who discover things about their patients are governed by a similar set of rules. Priests are governed by the sanctity of the confessional. Social Workers hold no such confidentiality agreement, however. It is standard protocol for a social worker to betray his/her client, in a heart beat. Without regard for the parent or the child, a social worker will act out of some misguided loyalty to some fantasy, regarding what he/she might qualify as the best interests of the child, without really being aware of the consequences for these actions. And, since Social Workers are not held accountable for their actions, why should they feel any sense of responsibility, for the damage their involvement may create? This is probably the fundamental reasoning behind apprehension being a first strike scenario rather than a last resort.
Provide a supportive environment for the parent and this parent will probably be able to cope, much better with the children; take the child from the home and you punish the parent and the child, and introduce yet one more statistic, into a system, already choking with derelicts. While we’re on the subject. As I grew up, I wanted to be a lawyer. The profession seemed, to me, to be a most admirable one, with integrity, ethics and a sense of helping people through difficult but strict ordeals. I happen to believe in this system. It is called the adversarial system and it is the best forum, for protecting the rights of an individual, verses the interest of the multitude, at large.
However, the Family Court System and it’s methodology have been severely clouded. Unlike their peers, in Criminal and even Civil Term, judges in Family Court, deal with matters that a court or judicial system has no right or position to. Terms like, “The Best interest of the child”; how can any judge, sit upon a bench and deliver an order, in provision with the best interest of a child? Is the court closely related and thus familiar with the minute details of the family structure; no. Is the court prepared to accept responsibility for any reversible errors, that it may make, in judgement of a Family Court Matter; no. Is there any process, by which one can enter into a Family Court and be consoled, in the knowledge that there will be a strict protocol of precedent, in making determinations, in a Matter, no. So… if, unlike Criminal and/or Civil Term, there is no sense of continuity, common sense, logic and/or proper protocol, it’s no wonder that defense lawyers are at a loss, when it comes to defending a client against the hap hazard methodology of this legal machinery.
One cannot loosely interpret the statutes of the legal forum, known as Family Court. Criteria must be strictly regulated and decisions regulated through strict disciplines and protocols. This is the tradition that has formed the faith and security that our people must come to trust, when entering the hallowed halls of the judiciary system. Otherwise, the power and authority, held here is about as dangerous as a four year old, who’s just found his father’s loaded revolver.
After the turn of a specific century, the American’s fought a revolutionary war in protest, to a Royal Dictator, who would govern them mercilessly, binding them in oppression, without recourse or voice. Now, instead, of a Royal Dictator, (a King in diamonds and expensive robes), we have one ( A Judge dressed in black robes), equally distanced from the people by protocol, instead of an ocean. however the merciless oppression remains. Therefore the choices are whether to be mercilessly oppressed by a Royal Dictator, thousands of miles away, or an appointed dictator who sits upon a throne of Oak, or the restoration of a system that would not invade the sanctity of the family home, with unjust orders and demands. Myself I choose the latter.
We desperately need to support and encourage family unity, whether the parents have divorced or not. We need to rally around every part of the family unit as it is the most basic element of the atomic structure of our society and should not be treated lightly. We should be wary of a future where men and women live together, unmarried and then go their separate ways, after children are born, to go who knows where. Our ancestors, for all of their faults and short comings had certain ideals, which they invoked through religious law. “Thou shalt honor thy father and mother”. In my experiences with a variety of religious faiths, this law has been intricately woven in. For those who do not have any religious faith, one could call it the law of Mother Nature and we all know what happens when you fool with Mother Nature…
In summary, one would be very confused, to arrive at a street corner and see a Football Referee, directing traffic. One would be equally confused to see a Police Officer calling plays, on the ice, at a Hockey game. So, why is it that anyone would call upon a forum, dedicated to the principles of guilt/innocence, the assignment of blame, punishment and/or compensation to prognosticate the best interests of any child and dictate the future of any family?
The time is yesterday, for a forum, in which parents and/or children may present their problems and/or difficulties, in an atmosphere of confidence and reliability and receive the kinds of assistance and counseling that might keep this family out of the Legal Machinery. This type of forum and only this type of forum can and will serve the best interests of both the children and the parents. It’s also time for a Union of Parents and maybe even one for children. A recourse for Parents and Children to unite and pressure the powers that be, for a standardized protocol, not unlike the Magna Carta, providing for the equal and fair treatment of all who may come before the social structure, in times of need and despair. This is the only means, by which our culture will advance. This is the only forum that will provide for the children, by providing for the parent. This is the only forum that will provide the supportive structure that will stay the feelings of being helplessly and hopelessly alone, in dealing with family matters.
It is time to stand up and denounce taxation, without representation. It is time to find an arena, for parents and for children, to protect themselves against a legal machine, with no more ability to find, in the best interest of a child, then a Criminal and/or Civil Court. It is time to restore the traditions of the past and invoke the strict protocols that form the foundation of our legal community and, finally, it is time to keep psychology, sociology and the paranormal, out of the courtroom and back into the forum of the medical community, where it belongs. Child and Family Services Agencies everywhere are self serving and therefore self indulgent. Yet the future of our very society is at stake, and cannot, and must not be held for ransom by these agencies, who have no further agenda, other than perpetuating their own existence.
Someone once said, “There ought to be a law” in reference to child abuse/neglect/seduction and, like with everything else, when left unchecked, the Government has taken that inch and turned it into a mile. The pendulum has swung too far and it is time to repeal some of the laws that have become unjust. It is time to trim the weeds from that garden of justice and prevail upon the rights and objectives of parents, both men and women.
Respectfully,
Carolynn J. Middleton B.Sc.