The Children Act of 1989 In this essay I refer to the words Power and Duty. The word power in legal terms is the ability to do or act, which implies a choice. Duty is an obligation; something the law forces me to do. This essay was written in response to a case study, examining a situation, focusing on the Children Act 1989. This act was drafted to protect the welfare of all children, whatever their circumstances and background. “An Act to Reform the Law Relating to Children; provide services to local authorities for needy children and others; amend the law relating to orphanages, communities, voluntary homes and voluntary organisations; provide for the fostering, custody and day care of young children and for adoption; and for related purposes". In this essay I take on the role of the social worker. In this case Peter and Jane have a baby boy named David, who is about four months old. In section 2 (1) it is said that if the parents of the child were married before the conception of the child, each of them will have parental responsibility over the child, the meaning of parental responsibility is discussed in section 3. In this case, both Peter and Jane married when David was born. Jane took David to hospital with a serious head injury. After examination by hospital staff it was discovered that he had also suffered previous injuries to some ribs. This caused grave concern and led the hospital to notify the police. They in turn informed the local authority, who appointed me as David's social worker. Under section 47 I have a duty to investigate the allegations and also a duty to contact any other agencies that may be involved… halfway through… the whole case will be dropped, but they may have conclusive evidence which is been neglected. As the child's social worker, I hope that at the end of the proceedings there is a happy ending for everyone involved, but David's interests should still come first. Bibliography: Bibliography N. Gravells. Family Law Statutes (5th Edition). Sweet & Maxwell Ltd. London. 1992 M. Hayes, C. Williams. Family law. Principles, policy and practice. Butterworth. London. 1995M.Oldham.Family Law Statutes 2000 to 2001 (9th Edition). Blackstone Press Ltd. London. 2000 H. Brayne, G. Martin. Law for social workers (6th edition). Blackstone Press Ltd. London. 1999. M. Davies. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Work. Blackwell Publishers. Oxford. 2000M.Thomas, J.Pierson. Dictionary of Social Work. Educational Collins. London. 1999