Over the last 40 years child protection systems in all Advanced Western Societies have been subject to high profile criticisms and regular major reviews. In many respects the Munro Review of Child Protection (2011) in England, is very different to those which have gone before. This paper summarises the main findings and recommendations of The…

This study examines the location of British health visiting in contemporary policy discourses concerned with public health and safeguarding children. It argues that professional identity and orientation can be understood through health visiting's long history of public health work with children and families, which has included an engagement with…

Researchers who involve children in their research are faced with the challenge of choosing between differing theoretical approaches which can prioritise children's autonomy rights or their "vulnerability" and their need to be protected. Somewhat confusingly, ethical guidelines seem to reflect a combination of these approaches. Even when…

In recent years, the "sexualisation of childhood" has moved into the centre ground of public policy and debate internationally, despite the conceptual confusions and inadequate evidence surrounding the processes denoted by the term. This paper focuses primarily on the most recent of several UK government-commissioned reviews and reports,…

This study is based on a study of the experience of the outdoors in early childhood education and care settings in Ireland. Central to the analyses are the inter-linkages drawn between constructions of a "good" childhood, and children's "need" for outdoor play, as well as the contradictions which arise around competing…

Since the 1970s, interagency training has been considered crucial for developing effective collaborative practice, initially in relation to child protection, and latterly, to safeguarding children's welfare. Charting the history of interagency training in England, this paper aims to demonstrate how, despite limited attention being paid to its…

Increasingly, Information Technology is being used to identify, record and track children in England under the banners of child protection, reducing risk and improving outcomes. Discussions about the importance of a child's right to privacy have been sidelined in the rush to embrace systems that seek to expand the amount and types of information…

Children's online experience, especially the risks to which they might be exposed, is an increasingly important policy and research concern. This article reports an analysis of the amount, nature and range of empirical research concerning children's online experiences across 18 European countries. Research teams in each country have collaborated,…

Recent evidence has emerged that in Britain, like the United States, many children below minimum school-leaving age are working. Often, the work is illegal. Research in the United States suggests that many risk accidents and other hazards to health. Evidence from Britain is of a more fragmentary nature, but enough exists to suggest a need for…

This paper addresses the issue of child protection protocols within research conducted with children. Based partly on primary data this paper raises questions about the role of ethics committees in defining the limits of confidentiality in relation to child protection protocols within research, the perceptions of both children and parents about…

There are increasing calls for more child specific measures of poverty in developing countries and the need for such measures to be multi-dimensional (that is not just based on income) has been recognised. Participatory Poverty Assessments (PPAs) are now common in international development research. Most PPAs have been undertaken with adults and…

Examines relationship between family support and health of children. Reviews the impact of the decline in structural support for child rearing, examines the health effects of support provided in home visitation programs, and considers the health and welfare effects of the provision of day care services for children. Emphasizes results of…