NEVER RIGHT, NEVER WRONG - CHILD-WELFARE AND SOCIAL-WORK IN ENGLAND AND SWEDEN

When are parents ''unfit'' to care for their own children? As in many other countries, social workers in England and Sweden have the unenvia ble task of forming such judgments. On behalf of society at large, soc ial workers must balance the rights of parents to provide continuing c are with the responsibilities of the state in ensuring adequate care o f children. They are involved in professional judgments which are also inherently political. In both England and Sweden social workers are a ble to seek legal orders which, if granted, permit compulsory removal of children against the wishes of parents. In such cases social worker s are centrally involved in processes which remove ordinary rights of citizenship from their fellow members of society. The rights of parent s and children, together with the responsibilities of the state to eac h class of citizen, are clearly in focus: intervention in family life requires both grounds and legitimation. But what is the basis of inter vention in the two societies? Social work practices in Sweden and Engl and suggest very different answers to this question. In explaining the se differences it is necessary to address much broader variations of s ocial and political culture in the two societies. In so doing, variati ons in social work practice can be located in different cultural value s and systems of legitimation. Instabilities and pathologies of profes sional practices can also be identified within both England and Sweden . These too are quite different in the two societies.