Social workers ‘need help to keep track of predatory men’

Drifting “predatory” males are a worrying part of a complex cocktail of social problems faced by child protection workers, according to a leading social work chief.

Harriet Dempster, president of the Association of Directors of Social Work, said social workers were struggling to make sense of increasingly complicated households encompassing men who may be part of several families, as well as problems caused by drugs and alcohol, domestic violence and low incomes, She called on the public to help professionals by speaking out, particularly when they are concerned about the safety of children.

Her comments came just days after a report into the death of Dundee toddler Brandon Muir concluded that there was little possibility that social workers could have intervened to save him. The 23-month-old died in March last year after a vicious assault by his mother’s boyfriend.

However, social workers did not know that Robert Cunningham, who is now serving a prison sentence for culpable homicide, was living in the house. Neither did they know that the mother had recently begun working as a prostitute to fund a new drug habit.

Dempster said: “Families are presenting with situations of much greater complexity than 25 years ago.

“We see predatory males, father figures who come in and out of families, perhaps leaving a trail of violence. When they move into another family they present a very significant risk, but one which is often hidden from the public agencies.

“It comes back to communities and families being alert. It is not just for social work or the public agencies to think about what the risks are.

“It is for communities to decide what is our response to this?’ in terms of reacting to or reporting situations which are happening in front of them.”