Search results for ""Author Brid Featherstone""

The state is increasingly experienced as both intrusive and neglectful, particularly by those living in poverty, leading to loss of trust and widespread feelings of alienation and disconnection. Against this tense background, this innovative book argues that child protection policies and practices have become part of the problem, rather than ensuring children’s well-being and safety. Building on the ideas in the best-selling Re-imagining child protection and drawing together a wide range of social theorists and disciplines, the book: • Challenges existing notions of child protection, revealing their limits; • Ensures that the harms children and families experience are explored in a way that acknowledges the social and economic contexts in which they live; • Explains how the protective capacities within families and communities can be mobilised and practices of co-production adopted; • Places ethics and human rights at the centre of everyday conversations and practices.

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The state is increasingly experienced as both intrusive and neglectful, particularly by those living in poverty, leading to loss of trust and widespread feelings of alienation and disconnection. Against this tense background, this innovative book argues that child protection policies and practices have become part of the problem, rather than ensuring children’s well-being and safety. Building on the ideas in the best-selling Re-imagining child protection and drawing together a wide range of social theorists and disciplines, the book: • Challenges existing notions of child protection, revealing their limits; • Ensures that the harms children and families experience are explored in a way that acknowledges the social and economic contexts in which they live; • Explains how the protective capacities within families and communities can be mobilised and practices of co-production adopted; • Places ethics and human rights at the centre of everyday conversations and practices.

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Over the last decade there has been a series of Government policy initiatives in respect of children’s services and social work education in England, many of which aim to de-regulate or privatise aspects of these services. Critically considering the impact of the MacAlister Review, this book explores the past, present and future of children’s services in the UK from a range of perspectives – lived, professional and academic. This accessible guide provides a timely and incisive overview of the current children’s services reform agenda in the UK. It identifies current challenges, analyses both strengths and weaknesses in the current policy agenda and sets out alternative policy and practice directions for a system that can meet families’ needs.

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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.

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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.

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GENDER and CHILD WELFARE in Society ‘This excellent and internationally relevant book provides a range of pertinent material that explores the complexities surrounding gender and child welfare in contemporary society. It addresses a clear gap in current literature and will prove invaluable to those from a range of backgrounds who are involved in a variety of capacities in this highly charged arena.’ Professor Barbara Fawcett, Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney ‘The arguments and original research in this book offer more than a feast for thought. The contributors challenge the sidelining of gender in contemporary policy and practice in working with children. This is a valuable collection for practitioners in health and social care, providing practice-focused analyses to demonstrate the crucial role gender sensitivity has for improving interventions, and ultimately outcomes, for children and their families.’ Dr Lorraine Radford, Head of Research, NSPCC Gender and Child Welfare in Society offers an overview of sociological, psychological and developmental perspectives on family relationships, child welfare and the practice realities of professional interventions with families. It interrogates the current child welfare agenda from a gendered perspective, drawing on developments in thinking about gender relations. Chapters describe a range of service settings, including family support, child health, education, child protection, domestic violence, children who are ‘looked after’, and youth justice. The book also explores the new challenges facing women and men as parents in the context of family and societal change and diversity. It raises the issue of how gender intersects with ethnicity, religion, class, disability, age and sexuality in families, and what theoretical and practice developments are most promising in promoting both child well-being and gender equity. With contributions from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Canada and New Zealand, Gender and Child Welfare in Society takes an international, multidisciplinary, and multi-professional approach to the subject, offering a broad range of views on topics highly relevant to both practitioners and policy makers. Although social work is the dominant discipline, the book also contains contributions from academics in nursing, education, social policy, and family therapy.

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