Abstract
Reviewed by: Nigel Parton, University of Huddersfield, England
This edited volume is one of the long established Research Highlights series now edited by Professor Andrew Kendrick at the University of Strathclyde. The overall aim of the book is to stand back from taken for granted ideas about child protection and thereby reconsider what we mean by the term and the practices that are carried out in its name. In doing so, however, the editors state at the outset (p. 9) that ‘child protection in this collection refers to state intervention in the lives of families by professionals; in most cases this is underpinned by child welfare statutes’ – which was a rather more traditional view of the topic than I was anticipating. The contributors were asked to draw on their different disciplinary perspectives and international locations and experiences to ‘examine the social problem of child abuse and neglect and the human and societal responses’.
The book examines the ‘challenges’ in three distinct sections: Part 1 addresses the treatment of children and is concerned with their social, legal, and political positions; Part 2 reviews a range of research evidence spanning different research methods and countries to try and identify salient findings; and Part 3 considers working with families and their children paying particular attention to professional practice. The editors have enlisted a number of highly respected academics to contribute including Walter Lorenz who provides a wide-ranging chapter on ‘the treatment of childhood’; Heather Montgomery on an anthropologically based discussion of the ‘dynamics of culture’; Jason Hart on the particular challenges associated with armed conflict and political violence; and a series of critical reflections on the state of research, policy ad practice in different jurisdictions – Trevor Spratt on the United Kingdom, Tarja Poso on Finland; and Fiona Arney and her colleagues on Australia. We also have an interesting discussion of the challenges of trying to balance and integrate family support and child protection approaches to the problem of child neglect from Brigid Daniel and a fascinating chapter from Andrew Cooper on the emotional and relational challenges of actually doing child protection work.
The chapters are well written and clear, and I can imagine they may well provide useful background reading for students and could provide the focus and prompts for interesting and helpful discussions and critical reflections. However, I did not find it easy to identify any major themes which either held the book together or which might stand as key ‘findings’ which the book comes out with. It might have been helpful if the editors could have provided a full conclusion where this might have been done and which explicitly set out what is different and distinctive about this book compared to others and what some of its main messages might be. At the outset, it is stated that the book wants to be ‘anti-conventional’ and in the process grapple with the complex and shifting language and conceptions of child abuse and child protection. Unfortunately by the end, while I thought I had been on a fascinating journey and series of discussions, I was not at all sure how much clearer I was about these important issues and how we might address them in the future.