CYP Now - Resources: Review - To move beyond a culture of anxiety

This book is more than an historical narrative of child protection in western societies; it provides a fascinating insight into the sociology of child protection since its origins. Ferguson acknowledges the significant impact of Kempe and colleagues' seminal work on "the Battered Child Syndrome" in the 1960s. However, he believes it is necessary "to situate and rethink these post-1960s developments in the context of a broader historical and sociological framework." The premise of the book is that in order to understand contemporary child protection, we need to take an historical perspective.

The book examines child protection practice and policy since its origins in the 1870s, focusing largely on the UK and Ireland. The central theme is the idea that children can be protected "in time" from avoidable harm through professional intervention, an ethos ingrained in practice since its inception. Ferguson provides a critical analysis of this notion and its practice implications.

Ferguson's account of the changing concept of risk and its impact on practice is very interesting. He states that up until the 1970s, practitioners had an inherent belief in their expertise to protect children "in time".

However, since the 1970s, with the advent of what he terms "late", or "reflexive modernity", this has been replaced by a culture of questioning professionals. The effectiveness of child welfare systems has come to be "viewed through scandal politics" despite the fact that children are safer than at any other time in the history of child protection.

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