ABSTRACT
Social workers engaged in child protection recognise that children and youth suffer physical, psychological, and social harms from abuse and neglect. This recognition is self-evident. Additionally, the process of separation from family and multiple placements while in care, either in group homes or foster care, can contribute to traumatic experiences of separation and loss. Clearly, apprehension of children from situations of risk of abuse and neglect articulates our recognition, of relative harms, in which we weigh the risk of serious injury and death against the risk of emotional harm occasioned by separation of the child from family, friends, and familiar environments.
