Positive Psychology in Social Work: A Case Study of Baby P Tragedy

This case study explores the application of positive psychology to the tragic case of Baby P, a 17-month-old child who died due to severe abuse and neglect. The report examines the failures of social workers, police, and other authorities in recognizing and addressing the risks faced by the child. It highlights the importance of positive psychology in social care, emphasizing the need for professionals to cultivate positive behaviors, maintain ethical considerations, and effectively safeguard vulnerable individuals. The analysis delves into the timeline of events, identifying critical issues such as the failure to recognize the abuser, inadequate investigation, and missed opportunities for intervention. Ultimately, the study underscores how a stronger focus on positive psychology principles could have potentially altered the outcome of this devastating case. Desklib provides access to similar case studies and solved assignments for students.

POSITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY AND
OPERATIONAL
MANGEMENT

INTRODUCTION
Positive psychology refers a study in which strengths of an individual has been analyzed and the
belief of people that they want to live meaningful and fulfilling life. This positive psychology
helps an individual to cultivate the things that are best in them and to enhance their experience in
that field. The positive psychology always focus on the positive events such as happiness
inspiration love and joy and includes positive states and traits likely silence compassion and
gratitude (Yadollahpour, FazeliKebria and Amin, 2019). This report is based on a case study in
which Peter Connolly has been considered and the case study which has been considered is baby
P. This case study helps to provide practice as well as literature review regarding the positive
psychology that are required for an individual to have positive behavior. It also contains the
journey of 7 month old child who was died on August 3rd 2007 and was born on 1st March
2006. The child was found dead in a court which is blood stained with approximately more than
50 injuries. The given below study include the scientific study related to the positive psychology
on the case study of Baby P.
MAIN BODY
Positive psychology can be described as the scientific study of strength which mainly
enables the individuals as well as communities to thrive. This field is mainly founded on a belief
that the people wants to lead the meaningful as well as fulfilling lives s that they can cultivate
what is the best for them and this also enhances their experiences of work, love and play. The
core concepts of it includes well-being, happiness, flow, resilience, mindfulness among the other
people. There are three pillars to it which includes the positive individual traits, experience as
well as institutions. It is essential to have the understanding of the positive emotions which
mainly entails study of the contentment with past, happiness in future as well as some hope for
the future.
In order to maintain the positive psychology it is essential to know the concept of Social care.
The social care can be referred to the concept which involves the disable children as well their
parents who requires the practical support from both the home and outside it. The local
authorities are the one who takes the legal responsibility of it so that the help can be provided to
the families who have disabled children. It mainly includes all the form of the personal care and
some of the other practical assistance for the young people. Children as well as adults who need

some of the extra support (Fredrickson and Joiner, 2018). The local authorities have the main
duty to provide some services to the disable children which includes practical assistance in
home, recreational equipment, leisure facilities, travel assistance, educational facilities, home
adaptation and many others.
In order to identify the positive behavior in the case study it is essential to analyze the whole life
of 17 months of Peter who was born on 1st March 2006. On 13th October 2006, peters mother
sad that Peter head fell down from the stairs and was taken to the GP with cruising. It was
unknown to the professionals that in the November or December of the same year the new
boyfriend of his mother Stephen Bakar moves and to the home and the maternal grandmother
and Peter's mother was arrested because the GP has analyzed that baby Peter has various head
injuries and other bruises. In January 2007 Peter was returned to his mother and her mother was
granted a bail for the same.Again in the year 2007 on 9th April peters mother takes him to the
another hospital and the staff of the hospital identify the bruises and scratches on the face head
and body of the baby. The staff members has call the police to inform about the bruising on face
of Peter and and has provided a social service to arrange a family friend for the purpose of care
of the baby. In 2007 peters mother was again arrested by the police to be questioned regarding
the same. Till the year 2009 Dr Jerome who was the witness in the case of Peter and saw Peter
for 3 times before his death is suspended from the medical council and other social workers and
3 managers are also dismissed due to their failure in the case of Peter (Buchanan and Kern,
2017). The failure in the case of Peter was due to several important issues such as mother two
children of Tracy Connelly who was mother of Peter was placed at risk until the baby Peter died
but are taken away by the social services after he died. Another key issue that has been identified
in the case study with the help of literature review is the failure of social workers who failed to
realize that the Steven Barker who was the boyfriend of Peter's mother was secretly living with
the family of Peter and was abusing the baby for 9 months before he died. All these are the
failures of the police and social workers who was failed to conduct an investigation related to the
baby Peter and the abused he was facing for 17 months. The authorities has also failed to notice
that the brother of Steven barker has moved in with a girl of 15 years old before Peter was died
and the girl was coronavirus girlfriend (Schwarz, 2018).

Ethical consideration
Positive psychologist has initiated a program that will help to articulate a vision that is
empirically sound. The concept is making a important place in ethical contribution so that a
better understanding can be made to live good life and what are the process through which they
can be cultivated. If adequate attention is pay to them then uncertainty and dangerous situation
can be avoided. Adequate clarity will help protect practitioners to from the dangers of overreach
—of claiming more for their interventions than is empirically warranted (De La Fabian and
Stecher, 2017).
CONCLUSION
The above discussion helps to conclude that a positive psychology is very essential in
people and social workers so that they can be able to found various essential points in any case.
With the help of case of baby Peter it has been identified that if the social workers has shown
their positive psychology towards the case of Peter and identify that her mother was the one who
is is the real culprit with her boyfriend then the social workers will be able to safeguard the baby
who was died in only 17 months. Apart from this the baby was brutally treated by his mother and
her boyfriend and his step father and brother of a stepfather who was convicted of causing the
death of baby Peter.
With respect to the view point of the Wong, and Roy, 2018, it has been seen analyzed
that the Mira Ward who is a social worker within the with Harlingen Council organization that
has been situated in the north London and she made a pre-arranged home visit during the times
of the July 2007. At time she tend to miss the injuries on face of the Peter along with the facts
that his hands and that he is deliberately smeared with the chocolate that tend to hide them.
Further, the following day after the investigation the police tend to handed the reports to the
Crown Prosecution Service that is including all the key statements and vital information
collected from two doctors who are tend to saying the that bruising on the Peter and his hand was
tend to be suggestive and taken as the “non-accidental” injury. Along with this, it has been also
seen and analysed based on the review of the current study that the Prosecutors of the case
seemed to decide that there was not having any form of the enough evidence in order to bring the
current case to any conclusion or result. Beside this, it tend to be also revealed that the Baby

Peter was tend to underwent a paediatric form of the basement on the date of the August 1 2007
which was actually before the two days before his death taken place. Along with this, based on
the review of the current study it has been also find out and reviewed that there were two
consultant who were actually working the St Ann’s hospital which needed to ne four as per the
post. But it has been reviewed that because of the shortage of staff faced by the hospital an
appointment has been made for them after a delay of 12 weeks. Beside this, the Peter was tend to
taken to a child development clinic also at the At Ann’s hospital that is tend to situated and
located at the Totten ham located within the North side of the London on the date of 1 August
2007. Further, reports has also confirmed that at time the Peter was in an miserable and cranky
condition that was confirmed after undertaken of his full check-up. Along with this, the
following day the police tell the Connelly she will not be prosecuted.

REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Wong, P.T. and Roy, S., 2018. Critique of positive psychology and positive interventions.
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Research, 58(3), pp.343-354.
Brown, N.J., Lomas, T. and Eiroa-Orosa, F.J. eds., 2017. The Routledge international handbook of critical
positive psychology. Routledge.
Yazdani, N. and Aghaei, A., 2019. Effectiveness of positive psychology training in improving the quality of
married women’s lives: spiritual intelligence as a moderator. International Journal of Psychology, 13(1),
pp.206-229.
Yadollahpour, M.H., FazeliKebria, M. and Amin, K., 2019. Comparing the effectiveness of positive
psychology with an Islamic approach and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on the
psychological capital of cardiovascular patients. Community Health Journal, 13(2), pp.11-22.
Fredrickson, B.L. and Joiner, T., 2018. Reflections on positive emotions and upward spirals. Perspectives
on Psychological Science, 13(2), pp.194-199.
Buchanan, A. and Kern, M.L., 2017. The benefit mindset: The psychology of contribution and everyday
leadership. International Journal of Wellbeing, 7(1).
Schwarz, S., 2018. Resilience in psychology: A critical analysis of the concept. Theory &
Psychology, 28(4), pp.528-541.
De La Fabian, R. and Stecher, A., 2017. Positive psychology’s promise of happiness: A new form of
human capital in contemporary neoliberal governmentality. Theory & Psychology, 27(5), pp.600-621.
De La Fabian, R. and Stecher, A., 2017. Positive psychology’s promise of happiness: A new form of
human capital in contemporary neoliberal governmentality. Theory & Psychology, 27(5), pp.600-621.