I think it is reading an article like this that makes me acutely aware of the kind of society we live in. Simply Andrea had been failed by an uncaring system, a system that ignored her allegations of sexual abuse and that left her to cope without any constructive support and help. And the mental health system labelled her as “an attention-seeker and a time-waster. One psychiatrist wrote in his notes that she needed to ‘pull her socks up’.”… What a callous and uncaring society we live in where alienated and depressed young people are pushed over the edge, where suicide is seen as the only way to escape from the realities of a cold atomised world where nobody really listens instead people judge, stigmatise, stereotype and label (‘troublemaker’). Where people like Andrea fall through the cracks, never believing anyone cares, that they are worthless, insignificant and hopeless.
My own reaction reading this article saddened me to the core, I wasn’t in care but know only too well about the ignorance and arrogance of psychiatric labeling (there but for the grace of god, go I…) And why was she criminalised and punished, why did the police hold a vulnerable young woman in a cell when she is the victim of a crime, that’s an injustice! Pushed from one carer to another and the overwhelming sense of worthlessness and hopelessness which can lead to self-harming and overdosing as it’s about coping, anaesthetising yourself from the pain. And it also shows how inadequately trained and damned unenlightened these professionals were especially the police who treated Andrea like a criminal. Before she committed suicide, she was apparently, ‘jolly’ and ‘happy’ …. though under cross-examination the police officer said that Andrea had said this, “I am not going to do it now but when I do do it, there is nothing you can do to stop me.”… Indeed gross failure and inaction by the cops (and they also sanctioned the wrong woman!) There are times it is not so much what the person says is what they don’t say (though in this case it was obvious the state of her mind). And why wasn’t the allegations of rape investigated?
She was let down so horribly and utterly utterly shockingly badly… the young woman needed support and help to construct a positive life, the foundations weren’t there but that coulda been rectified with the right support as opposed to being left and trapped in an uncaring world where her only way out was suicide. Reading her story got to me deeply, as it reminded me of countless other young people lost in a myopic system, some I have known and some because of the tragic consequences and impact of their suicides. There were aspects of her life that reminded me of me, that’s possibly why it felt raw and hit a bit of a nerve. The rubbish ideas of past and current politicians with their ‘third way’ or ‘Big Society’ along with the moralising about ‘rights and responsibilities’, ‘culture of dependency’ and ‘broken society’ all evoke a right-wing ideology that continues the trauma, isolation and alienation of vulnerable, anonymous and powerless young people.
People deserve so much better.
It certainly looks as if social services, councils etc dropped the ball. But a major amount of damage to that poor child was already done.
Nothing to do with her family background and upbringing, I suppose.
“care leavers are dramatically over-represented among some of society’s most disadvantaged groups”
aka
“children from totally ******-up ‘families’ are dramatically over-represented among some of society’s most disadvantaged groups”
The world of care is big, cold, intertwined yet not connected, impersonal and money-fixated. She was doing well with Christine and the local authority could have paid for her to continue with Christine until she was 21. It would cost pennies compared to the cost of givng her a flat, benefits and the support she was due but didn’t get. But unfortunately a lot of agencies can’t see beyond their balance sheets, and to hell with the total cost, let someone else worry about it. It’s not gong to get any better while the current government is pulling the strings, unless they can tweak the system to enable their friends to make a profit.
Family background and upbringing do play a part, often it’s why the children get taken into care. But with the right care and environment the children can learn to cope and deal with what has gone before.
Totally agree Chris, it was utterly wrong she had to leave Christine as she had built up a connection. Why they had to break it is beyond me!!
Have you seen this ?
“once upon a time…I lived with my mother in our own house in heaton norriss & attended the local school; My mother Patricia J harries had been depressed for some time and was under the care of the local G.P & other services, but still she did all she could to raise Me alone, as time went on the treatment she underwent caused her to develop epilepsy (grand mall). Stress grew at home & the authorities thought i would be best “helped” in 1st a hospital unit then a sort of approved school meaning i only saw her at weekends and holidays, her depression got worse & someone at the ss sugested we got a nice low maintenence flat with the councill & sell the house for peanuts. So geared up for a better clean start we moved to the top floor of stonemill terrace. With me away & bad company all over the place, a few vicious letters from a local bad apple bully (just another lost kid..but damaging all the same), broken lifts/promises & hearing a woman next door crying “wishing she could get out of the estate”, with me away under care of the school (the school also made the papers for the wrong reasons) her situation worsened. one weekend i stood in the window of those flats myself & thought how easy it would be just to jump, until brought down by my mum (i was 12 at the time). on the 15th september 1989, shortly after my little breakdown (though having now returned to school, leaving mum alone) Ms Patricia J Harries took the decision to jump from the window at 303 stonemill terrace; she was pronounced d.o.a at the hospital from multiple injuries. Thank you stockport county council & social services! I’m writing this today as i have travelled from the west to come back home to sk where i today went to stonemill terrace car park to think/put some things to bed & I hear of the plight of andrea & family. Why do the ss/councill put suicidal/traumatized people in such stupid housing placements? It seems almost delliberate to me. had i been an adult looking out for a 12yr old child & a mother with many problems, or in this case Andrea, I feel i would’ve seen it coming a mile off! as for some of the other comments here: Stockport ss/council etc: Whatever You do, Remember Andrea Adams, if you knew her as sadly i never had the chance Remember Her and with that if You have a chance to prevent a future tragedy do!
I hope there is some justice in this world/the other & have faith She Is at peace now!
God bless Andrea Adams & all the other lost, unhappy souls in our world.”