In Competition No. 2597 you were invited to submit a report written by a social worker on a character from Shakespeare.
Congratulations all round: you were on top form. All the biggies — Hamlet, Lear, the Macbeths, Richard III — were subjected to the beady if sometimes myopic eye of social services. There were some sparkling examples of death by jargon, among which Adrian Fry stood out.
Admirable though a determination to see the good in people is, the blind optimism in some of your reports had a chilling topical resonance. Michael Brereton’s case worker responsible for Hamlet, who has been called in following the Prince’s murder of Polonius, writes, following his client’s return from England, ‘I can confidently say there is no likelihood of further such incident.’
Special mentions to Keith Norman, Barry Baldwin, Caro McShane and Mike Morrison. The winners, printed below, get £25 each, and Nancy Squire scoops the bonus fiver.
Deemed ‘at risk’ of harming herself and others, Mrs Macbeth is a service user from Scotland referred for crisis intervention. A preoccupation with power-gender concerns and prevailing national political hegemonies has impacted on her fearful husband, a Scottish Parliament executive. He replaced Mr Duncan King who died tragically in a horrific assault at the Macbeth home. Mr Macbeth now wanders heathland, communing with imaginary women and having socially embarrassing hallucinations about a deceased friend, Mr Banquo. Another client preoccupation focuses on a missing baby and breast-feeding anxieties though Scottish Records have no evidence of any birth. Post-natal depression and unresolved bereavement issues may account for OCD handwashing and distressing sleepwalking episodes. Former neighbour, Mr Macduff from Birnam Wood, has kindly agreed to attend an emergency Psychiatric Case Conference at the Macbeths’ home as lead facilitator in forging an appropriate dynamic intervention strategy for this troubled couple.
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