'A review like no other' : putting love at the heart of the care system

Anglin, James P. (2019) 'A review like no other' : putting love at the heart of the care system. Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care, 18 (2). ISSN 1478-1840

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Abstract

In this paper, the Scottish Independent Care Review is set in an historical and international context, presenting a typology of review characteristics and assessing the notion that this is 'a review like no other'. It is suggested that the evolution of child welfare tends to be cyclical rather than a linear and upward progression, meaning that discoveries or assumptions of one era tend to be lost or ignored, and then re-discovered, thus limiting the potential for ongoing system learning and steady practice improvement. Given the Scottish review goal to 'put love at the heart of the care system', the notion of love is examined in terms of its central role, multiple meanings and possible distortions. The article concludes that this review is indeed unique, and that the world will be watching and learning from this inspiring process.