Abstract

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.

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, Chair of the Child Protection Research Centre, University of Edinburgh
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, Professor Emerita, The Open University and Honorary Professorial Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh
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, Professor of Social Work (Children and Families), Institute of Applied Social Studies, University of Birmingham
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, Chair of the British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect