Another Social Work Portrayal on Latest "Coronation Street" // Was This One Less Problematic?

During the past month or so, there were a couple different problematic TV portrayals of social workers on U.K. soaps "EastEnders" and "Coronation Street." Particularly, they focused on scenarios where social workers were introduced and subsequently removed children from characters' home in dodgy ways. The "EastEnders" story was particularly bad. The social worker showed up without notice and immediately removed the kids without talking with anyone or gathering any evidence of actual abuse. But these shows have led to renewed complaints about unfair TV portrayals of social workers.

I have to admit that the second report got me curious about "Coronation Street" and I began watching the program three nights a week on BritBox!

There's this gay male couple on the show (Billy and Todd) who are adopting a girl named Summer. Of course being a soap, their lives and histories are challenged. On tonight's episode, a social worker name Jeanette was doing a routine home visit and the issue of Billy's recent arrest came up. Of course, the guys had to scramble to come up with an excuse and Jeanette seemed slightly placated though somewhat skeptical. I'm sure that we haven't heard the last of this.


But this got me wondering.... Given complaints in the past about TV portrayals of social workers, what do you think of Jeanette? How might you respond if you walked into a similar scenario with one of your families?