Challenging Child Protection: New Directions in Safeguarding Children

by Lorraine Waterhouse (Editor), Janice McGhee (Editor), Brigid Daniel (Contribution by), Andrew Cooper (Contribution by), Kay Tisdall (Contribution by)

Overview

Challenging Child Protection offers a ground-breaking new perspective which will illuminate and improve the professional understanding and practice of social workers and child protection workers.

Taking a fresh look at the principles underlying child protection, this book provides a thought-provoking analysis of the evidence base which underpins professional understanding and intervention. It outlines the ways in which agencies have worked to prevent child abuse and neglect and traces key changes in UK policy, as well as situating these amid wider trends in Europe. With contributions from a wide variety of disciplines, including philosophy and anthropology, this is a uniquely diverse collection of academic perspectives.

This book challenges our conceptions of child protection and encourages readers to think critically about why children are harmed by adults, how society views child abuse and how this informs practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781849053952
Publisher:	Kingsley, Jessica Publishers
Publication date:	08/21/2015
Series:	Research Highlights in Social Work
Pages:	184
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Brigid Daniel is Professor of Social Work at the University of Stirling. She is the co-author of a number of books on child care and protection and has a particular interest in factors that help children to cope with adversity. She was a member of the multi-disciplinary team that carried out a national ministerial review of child protection practice in Scotland.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 7

Introduction: Challenging Child Protection and Safeguarding Children Lorraine Waterhouse Janice McGhee 9

Part 1 Challenge One: Examining Preconceptions About Childhood and Harm to Children

1 The Treatment of Childhood Walter Lorenz 20

2 The Dynamics of Culture Heather Montgomery 34

3 The Rule of Law E. Kay M. Tisdall 42

4 Armed Conflict and Political Violence Jason Hart 50

Part 2 Challenge Two: Reviewing the Evidence

5 The Ethics of Predictive Risk Modelling Tim Dare 64

6 Safeguarding Children Research: A United Kingdom Perspective Trevor Spratt 77

7 Research in Child Abuse and Neglect: A Finnish Perspective Tarja Pösö 89

8 Research in Child Protection: An Australian Perspective Fiona Arney Leah Bromfield Stewart McDougall 100

9 Advances from Public Health Research Melissa O'Donnell 110

Part 3 Challenge Three: Working with Children and Families

10 Integrating Family Support and Child Protection in Child Neglect Brigid Daniel 120

11 Relationships in Practice: 'Practitioner-Mother Relationships and the Processesthat Bind Them' Lorraine Waterhouse Janice McGhee 132

12 Emotional and Relational Capacities for Doing Child Protection Work Andrew Cooper 141

Contributor Profiles 154

References 158

Subject Index 177

Author Index 182

Editorial Reviews

Waterhouse and McGhee tackle unconventional issues in child protection with authority and sensitivity. They challenge us to re-imagine our conceptualisations of child protection, daring us to deconstruct and then reconstruct an understanding of how we might approach protecting children from abuse and neglect.

Professor Julie Taylor

With highly esteemed international contributors, this collection seeks to trouble some of the current settlements about child protection and family welfare and also to provide clear practice and policy relevance. This is achieved through the inclusion of 'practice near' research findings and open-minded engagement with the recurrent and vexing questions in this morally contentious domain.

Sue White

There has been much written over the last thirty years on the issue of the abuse of children, and professional responses. Rather than repeating what has already been said the authors in this fine collection challenge our thinking of how we conceptualise and understand these complex issues. In doing so the editors and contributors push at the boundaries of our understanding, and readers will be rewarded with big ideas, clearly articulated and convincingly argued.

Dr John Devaney

This is a wide-ranging and unusual collection of essays that examine the ever present and pressing problem of child abuse and protection. It is well-informed, evidence-based and takes forward the boundaries of thinking in this area, especially through bringing together different disciplines. It will be essential reading for all working in child protection as well as a substantial text for students in the field. The editors have put together a tightly structured, well-coordinated, original volume. They have chosen their authors with care. The book provides some outstanding analyses of approaches to practice. The recognition given to the central role of women as mothers, and the issues of power inequalities this raises in practice is uncomfortable but compelling reading. The book ends with a return to the fundamental issue of relationships as central in the treatment of child abuse and ends with a critical message about the nurturing of workers if they are to effect change in the children and families with whom they engage.

Jane Aldgate OBE