He took the case for a few hundred dollars plus he was a drunk to boot and he had a prosecutor's mentality

He took the case for a few hundred dollars, plus he was a drunk to boot and he had a prosecutor's mentality. He just failed to ask obvious questions."Cook is still on death row, awaiting an appeal hearing next year, based on new evidence found by Centurion investigators. McCloskey expects many more cases."Since we began this work, the conservatism in this country has broadened and deepened," he says. "We are a vengeful, bloodthirsty society and the cry is burn 'em or bury 'em.

Among the public there's a hysteria towards violent crime, so the police feel pressure to clear their books and the politicians are prepared to grant more latitude."The telephone rings in the office, even though it is a Saturday McCloskey picks it up and starts making notes. "A guy in Arizona, set for execution in two weeks' time - we don't have much time.". Several angry social workers have taken me to task for objecting, in an article about the investigation into photographs taken by the newsreader Julia Somerville of her daughter, to their use of the word "inappropriate". We are constantly being told that behaviour is "inappropriate". I suggested that what they really meant, and should therefore say, is "wrong".

Inappropriate is only one of many such words that strip language of its force and truthfulness. Here is an example from one of several polite letters and telephone calls that have rebuked me. This writer says: "One of the basic tools of my [ie a social worker's] trade is the verbal ability to converse with people from all walks of life, each with differing intellectual inability. To say wrong to an individual who may perpetrate abuse is often not a recognised statement." Translated into clear and simple English, these sentences would read: "A social worker like me has to talk to all sorts of people, some of whom are quite stupid, and telling those of them who have sex with their children that it is wrong is just not something they can understand." Another example: "We [ie social workers] are bound by silence to effectively advocate for the positive work we may complete. This style of reporting I find innapropriate [sic], sorry wrong, and leads to an even higher negative projection of social worker's." Grammatical and spelling mistakes may be unimportant (though I do not think so) but when - as in this case - they obscure, if they do not actually reverse, the meaning of what the writer is trying to say, they do matter. It is not easy to make sense of the first sentence, but I imagine it is trying to say, "Our professional ethics force us to remain silent, which prevents us from standing up for the good work we do".The root of the problem is that social workers have been trained never to tell their "clients" that their behaviour is wrong To do so would be "judgemental".

As a result, the language of social work is emasculated - or efeminised, since the use of non-sexist language also ranks high on their priorities - and people cannot say, although it badly needs saying, that nothing justifies or excuses parents who have sexual intercourse with their children.Common-sense seems to be in dangerously short supply among the politically correct. I am not, dear heavens, pretending that no child is ever abused, and I know very well that families are often in desperate need of guidance and help if their weakest members are to be protected. Nor am I arguing against the usefulness of social workers; I am only saying that I deplore their vocabulary.It is not only social workers who misuse words. Therapists of every colour and persuasion resort to the same feeble, cowardly and evasive language, a language in which individuals find space and explore themselves, that is designed to comfort rather than encourage openness.