The judgment in Re W (A child): national and international implications for contemporary child and family social work

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in the British Journal of Social Work following peer review. The version of record Martyn Higgins; The Judgment in Re W (A child): National and International Implications for Contemporary Child and Family Social Work, The British Journal of Social Work, , bcy018, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcy018is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/bjsw/advance-article/doi/10.1093/bjsw/bcy01...

This paper argues that contemporary child and family social work in England and some other states in Europe needs an ethical ‘turn’. This paper considers the facts in the Re W judgment and identifies certain features in the case that can be understood as products resulting from a particular paradigm of social work in contemporary practice. National and international implications are considered and hopeful ways forward are proffered: epistemic humility, inner dialogue, and cultivating our humanity The key message of this paper is that Re W indicates that contemporary child and family social work is dominated by an ‘automatic’ thinking which tends not to ‘hear’ the voices of actual human beings and a refocusing on ethics work is needed to put humane practice back at the heart of the social work profession. Keywords: Re W, ethics work, child and family social work, social work