Different literary sources define the family in different ways and what it should look like. But in the real world, especially in social work and the social care system, hardly any of these definitions are applicable. The social care system sees broken families, abandoned children and helpless parents who cannot provide quality parental care, but also those for whom quality and sufficient parental care is not a priority. The social care system consists of a range of measures aimed at helping parents to provide satisfactory quality parenting and parental care. If milder measures do not work, it is necessary to do something that is very difficult for all family members and also for the professionals, namely to separate the child from the family. Any measure that involves the child leaving the parental home is regarded as removing a child from the family. The separation of a child from the family is a broad concept and there are various measures that can be categorised as family separation. Regardless of which measure is used, the separation of a child from the family is a very difficult and, for many, traumatic event, regardless of the situation in the primary family. The reason why such an event is traumatic can be explained by two interlocking theories. The first is the attachment theory described by John Bowlby and the second is the ecological systems theory described by Urie Bronfenbrenner. Attachment theory describes how separation from the family is a traumatic event due to the importance of attachment to children's psychological and emotional development, while ecological systems theory complements this theory as separation from the family also changes the environment. Bronfenbrenner described the structure around the individual through the systems to which they belong and with which they are connected. The role of social work is very important because the social worker is involved in all the interventions that take place in this process. Therefore, it is important to recognise the role of the social worker in each step of the process, as well as to gain knowledge about practical experiences and conducted research.