Why do your texts tend to imply assumptions that parents are rarely abusive? And is it true that social work degrees often do not cover the topic of childhood abuse or how to practice with regards to it?

Firstly, I've read part of this book called "Communicating with Vulnerable Children: a guide for practitioner", because I was looking for books to help prepare me for potentially working with children in a non-SW capacity (childline). SW itself interests me, but similar to mental healthcare, half the time the field seems more flawed, less worthy of respect and less effectual the more I read the fields texts (though I have much left to read) or have the displeasure of engaging with services.

In Chapter 9 (page 91, it lists thirteen different examples of initial interactions with children which may be indicators of concern about abuse or "adverse experiences". For example "a seven year old girl tells her teacher she does not want to go home with her mother's boyfriend" or "a 14-year-old boy tells his teacher that he is very worried about his parents' divorce and the fact that his father drinks to excess and sometimes pushes his mother around".

Of the thirteen examples of indicators, 2 involve step-parents, 1 involves the child's boyfriend, 2 involves witnessing violence towards a parent by the other parent, 4 do not mention anyone and are about changes in behaviour, 2 ​are about bruises or medical issues, 1 involves a cousin and 1 involves a babysitter.

So of the examples, 0 involve the biological parent. This is despite the now well-established knowledge that the parent-child relationship is one of the most common domains of abuse, if not the most common. The implication of this list can also be paired with the implication of the book, and maybe social work and safeguarding literatures found online, having sections dedicated to addressing the concerns of the parents of the child of concern (eg helping the parent with distress about their child potentially having been abused, or helping them to navigate the assessment process as a concerned parent), which implies that the parent is only an observer and is not a perpetrator. This is a common trend I have seen around.

Secondly, I've listened to a Social Work England where the presenter of the talk (which was aimed at practitioners) said that many social workers do not know how to speak about child sexual abuse and thus avoid doing so with children or adult survivors, because social work programmes do not cover child sexual abuse which leaves social workers ignorant about best practices, ignorant about the effects of abuse, uncomfortable to talk about it or believing that it is someone else's job (the same is true in the NHS mental health system, along with previous disclosures of abuse often not being brought up in future appointments, sometimes due to discomfort of the clinician, sometimes because it is seen as unimportant. I'm just relaying what the talker said, who is one of your own colleagues). Is this true in your experience and does this also extend to other forms of abuse? (seeing as sexual abuse is probably the most popular form of abuse to talk about and acknowledge nowadays in the mainstream media and in provision of services, I can imagine other forms of abuse also being ignored in the curriculum).