Re-imagining Child Protection

Brid Featherstone, Susan White, Kate Morris

ISBN 10: 1447308018 / ISBN 13: 9781447308010

Published by Bristol University Press, GB, 2014

About this Item

Why has the language of the child and of child protection become so hegemonic? What is lost and gained by such language? Who is being protected, and from what, in a risk society? Given that the focus is overwhelmingly on those families who are multiply deprived, do services reinforce or ameliorate such deprivations? And is it ethical to remove children from their parents in a society riven by inequalities? This timely book challenges a child protection culture that has become mired in muscular authoritarianism towards multiply deprived families. It calls for family-minded humane practice where children are understood as relational beings, parents are recognized as people with needs and hopes and families as carrying extraordinary capacities for care and protection. The authors, who have over three decades of experience as social workers, managers, educators and researchers in England, also identify the key ingredients of just organizational cultures where learning is celebrated. This important book will be required reading for students on qualifying and post-qualifying courses in child protection, social workers, managers, academics and policy makers.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781447308010

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Re-imagining Child Protection
• Publisher: Bristol University Press, GB
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1447308018
• ISBN 13: 9781447308010
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Raising a number of critical questions, Brid Featherstone, Susan White and Kate Morris challenge a child protection culture that they see as becoming increasingly authoritarian. Calling for a family-minded practice of child protection, they argue that children should be understood as relational beings and that greater sensitivity should be paid to parents and the needs they have as a result of the burdens of childcare. They argue that current child protection services need to ameliorate, rather than reinforce, the many deprivations that parents engaged in their systems face. Bringing together authors who combine a wealth of experience in both scholarship and practice, this book provides a sensitive reassessment of a critical point of contact between governments and families.

About the Author

Brid Featherstone is professor of social care at the Open University. Susan White is professor of social work at the University of Birmingham. Kate Morris is associate professor of social work at the University of Nottingham.