A New Lens on Care Scandals

This chapter opens with a sociological analysis of the ritual way that scandals unfold: participants are identified as either sacred or profane and the situation as one that needs cleansing, which allows the public to go back to ignoring the matter. Observing an inclination to ignore matters of resource, it tracks reliance on neoliberal policies that do not constitute a resolution. Brief descriptions engender a deep appreciation of the challenges of this work and initiate the construction of a new lens focussed on supporting and sustaining direct care staff. Two such interventions within a service for adults with intellectual disabilities who can become acutely disturbed are introduced, informed respectively by systemic family therapy and European pedagogy (Heijkoop method). Readers are signposted to where they can find out more.