The Independent Learning Lessons Case Review – Graham Gregory. Some comments
Sunday 20th February 2022
The expression ‘lessons learned’ in a review of some poorly managed safeguarding episode, always fills the reader with a sense of déjà vu. We ask ourselves the disrespectful question, how many more lessons learned reviews do we need before the Church gets the central point of how and why things can go so disastrously wrong in safeguarding events?
In every review of past safeguarding cases there are normally at least three components. The first is the account of criminal sexual activity against a child or vulnerable adult. Many of the cases, but not all, have ended up with criminal prosecutions and imprisonment for the perpetrators. The second part is the reaction to the victim/survivor by relatives and people with professional responsibilities. The third section is the examination of protocols and paper trails that help to reveal who did or knew what and when. Of the three, the first is the most painful to read. It is also the part of the review that provides the least scope for comment. How many times can a commentator say, this is wicked/criminal behaviour?
The second section is worthy of comment. If an individual has suffered and, for various reasons, they have not received a compassionate caring response, this is likely to have compounded the evil of the original malevolent act. The third aspect, the failure of protocols and process, can be blamed on the common, but not necessarily wicked, weakness and sloppiness of those entrusted with the task of maintaining records and following procedures correctly.
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