An author has defended the country’s social workers, claiming they face unwarranted criticism despite helping thousands of people each year.
Declan Henry’s comments follow the success of his book Glimpses which looks at disaffected teenagers and the reasons behind their behaviour.
The book, which was first published in 2007, is to be reprinted in January along with his new novel Buried Deep in my Heart which tells the story of his childhood in Ireland.
The 46-year-old, from Gillingham, is a registered social worker employed by Kent County Council.
His book Glimpses - which he says in not based on true accounts of people he has worked with - is a collection of 26 stories about disaffected teens.
It gives a disturbing snapshot of youngsters dealing with issues such as sexual abuse and self-harming, who are classed as social problems.
Mr Henry said: “I couldn’t use real life cases through my job, but the issues are true to life.
“I wrote it to educate the public about troubled young people in society, highlighting the reasons behind their behaviour, such as bad parenting and abuse.
“I wanted to make readers aware of what a terrible time some of these young people are having and how unfair life can be for them.
“These teenagers aren’t bad – they’re products of bad life circumstances.
“With the right kind of support and education they can get that belief in themselves back.”
The book has been well received by other social workers, police and academics which led to the call for it to be reprinted.
Mr Henry, who became a social worker after working with homeless people in London in the 1990s, said he hopes the book will also teach readers more about his profession, which has come in for much criticism following the brutal death of Baby Peter in London.
He said: “Social workers get an extremely bad time and come under a lot of criticism.
“If they make a mistake everyone criticises them, but the thousands of good things they do go unnoticed.
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“It’s a rewarding career and I’m very happy with my job. It’s hard sometimes though when we’re given a bad name.”
Mr Henry is now focusing on the release of his new book Buried Deep in my Heart, which looks at the first 18 years of his life growing up in County Sligo in Ireland.
“It’s a million miles away from my life as a social worker,” he said.
“It comes out in January around the same time as the reprint of Glimpses.”
For copies of his books visit www.amazon.co.uk.
POSTED: 08/11/2009 14:00:00
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