Toward a Child-Centered, Neighborhood-Based Child Protection System: A Report of the Consortium on Children, Families, and the Law

The current system of protecting society's children from abuse is failing miserably. In this volume, scholars affiliated with universities and professional associations nationwide pinpoint a better strategy. Their research spotlights neighborhood-based child protection systems and provides a comprehensive approach for creating procedures that meaningfully address child maltreatment.

The volume discusses the challenges of moving toward such a system within the current legal, political, and cross-cultural contexts of child protection. Examples of promising applications of a community-based approach are cited. Also cited are the legal and practical structural steps to be taken in creating caring communities that effectively address child abuse and neglect.

GARY B. MELTON is Director of the Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life at Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina. A professor of psychology, he is also a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and eight of its divisions.

ROSS A. THOMPSON is a Carl A. Happold Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Nebraska. He is Director of the university's developmental psychology program.

MARK A. SMALL is Professor of Psychology and research associate at the Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life at Clemson University. He is also a licensed attorney.