The issues of alleged child abuse in residential child care and alleged false accusations of child care workers continue to create deep concern for all who have been involved in this field : for children and young people who are placed in residential care settings, for adults who experienced residential care during their childhood as well as for those who in a variety of roles are or were providers of residential child care. The sadness and anguish we feel as these issues cast a shadow over residential child care is surely because the latter is a human endeavour which springs from an altruistic desire to give unfortunate children a better chance in life. Richard Webster’s book continues to be a focal point for the tensions that these matters inevitably create.
Rory Connors has written to us commenting on John Molloy’s article about Richard Webster’s book. John’s article has been re-published in the goodenoughcaring blog in order to give context to Rory’s comments and the others that were sent to us at the time of Richard Webster’s death. The article was originally published here in the goodenoughcaring Journal.
A link to Rory’s wider writing about these issues can be found at Irish Salem.
The discussion and comments which took place in this blog about Richard Webster as both a man and an author at the time of his death can be found on the goodenoughcaring blog along with Mark Smith’s tribute to him.
Mark Smith’s article “Two book reviews : Kathy’s Real Story by Hermann Kelly and The Secret of Bryn Estyn by Richard Webster can be found in the goodenoughcaring Journal.