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Considers ways in which raising questions about gender can help researchers and practitioners better understand family relationships and issues in children's development: Draws on current developments in thinking about gender relations; Offers an overview of sociological, psychological and developmental perspectives on family relationships, child welfare outcomes and the practice/policy realities of professional interventions with families; Chapters address range of service settings; including family support, child health, education, child protection, domestic violence, 'looked after' children.

This book explores diversity and complexity in fathering through psychoanalysis, sociology and psychology and analyses contemporary developments in social policies and welfare practices. Using a feminist perspective, it highlights the opportunities and dangers in contemporary developments for those wishing to advance gender equity

In this article, I discuss the development of a child protection system that too often seems to harm rather than help those who are most marginalised, despite countless attempts at reform and reimagining over the decades on the part of so many progressives including feminists. While the focus is mainly on England, many of the developments there are by no means unique, as I will highlight. I focus, especially, on the issues that have emerged in the arena of domestic abuse where those who are often the most harmed are not able to tell not just of the harm, but of what they consider they can do to mitigate it. It can often appear, therefore, that a system has been constructed where abused women are collateral damage in a project that 'saves' their children! In this article, I discuss the need for perspectives informed by intersectionality, transformative justice and restorative processes so that we might widen circles of support, voice and accountability.

Mainstream discussions about child abuse and neglect remain disconnected from a wider appreciation of what harms children, and how such issues are related to wider social and economic forces. This article draws from ongoing work on 'framing', and the role of stories in rendering poverty and inequality either irrelevant or invisible, offering some thoughts on how an alternative story needs to be developed and fought for in order to improve children's welfare and safety.

This article outlines the background to Ireland's current economic difficulties. It locates the response by the government within an ongoing neo-liberal project that reproduces patterns of inequality. It explores why tackling inequality is essential to individual and societal well-being. It outlines the history of social work in Ireland and argues that it must become part of the coalition for change that is emerging in Irish society. It offers some grounds for optimism in this regard although it recognises that there are obstacles partly to do with government control of social work and its location within a demoralised and frightened public sector.En este artículo se describe el contexto de las actuales dificultades económicas de Irlanda. Se describe la respuesta del gobierno dentro de un proyecto en curso neoliberal que reproduce los patrones de desigualdad. Se explora por qué la lucha contra la desigualdad es esencial para la persona y el bienestar social. Se describe la historia del trabajo social en Irlanda y se sostiene que debe convertirse, en parte de la coalición para el cambio que está surgiendo en la sociedad irlandesa. Por último, se ofrecen algunos motivos para ser optimistas en este sentido, aunque reconociendo que hay obstáculos que se relacionan con la labor social del gobierno y su ubicación dentro de un sector público desmoralizado y asustado.

Since the late 1990s a series of government departments have promoted a policy and practice agenda urging practitioners in a range of settings such as school, health care and children's centres to 'engage' fathers. The rationale for this project is that fostering father involvement with children will promote good outcomes particularly for those children who are most disadvantaged. The author suggests that this agenda is normatively undesirable and flawed practically. Gender equality appears to be neither an explicit nor implicit aim. Moreover, by constructing the father—child relationship as dyadic, mothers' contributions to fathering and childcare are obscured. Drawing from a piece of qualitative research with fathers about their experiences of social care services, it would appear, however, that the fathers were preoccupied with mothers and their perceived power. Indeed, they had constructed a world of powerful unpredictable women who were supported by feminized services. Not only is writing mothers out problematic for gender equality purposes, it is also not feasible practically.

"Der Beitrag über Kinderschutz im Vereinigten Königreich geht auf dem Kinderschutz im Kontext der Politik des Dritten Weges ein. Ein sozialinvestiver Staat und die Stärkung der elterlichen Verantwortung sind die Säulen dieses politischen Programms. Dabei liegt der Schwerpunkt in der frühen Kindheit (Investitionen hier zahlen sich in niedrigeren Folgekosten, z.B. in der Schule aus) und entsprechend wurden die sozialen Dienste und Programme in diesem Lebensalter verstärkt und ausgebaut. Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt liegt in der Prävention abweichenden Verhaltens bei Kindern ab 10 Jahren, und hier wurde insbesondere die elterliche Verantwortung erweitert. Elterliche Lohnarbeit wird stark gefördert (als Strategie gegen Kinderarmut) und der Beitrag thematisiert genderspezifische Erwerbsmuster, auf die politisch noch nicht hinreichend reagiert wurde (immerhin wurde 1998 ein Recht auf flexible Arbeit für Frauen eingeführt). Generell ist in den Diskursen um Kindeswohlgefährdung kennzeichnend, dass nur in universalen Kategorien vom Kind gesprochen wird, und vor allem nach Gender und Class kaum differenziert wird." (Autorenreferat)

This article argues that the lack of a gender analysis in New Labour policy in relation to child welfare and protection has led to problematic gaps at the level of policy and service provision. It explores why the widespread mobilization of terms such as 'parent' and 'child' obscures important and persistent issues in relation to gender equity in care-giving, sexual violence and help-seeking. Whilst there is some attention being paid to the needs of fathers, including the need to involve them in service provision, this attention is tokenistic and inadequately grounded in practice realities. The valorization of the 'new', particularly in the context of a New Labour project grounded in using language in a very considered way, offers opportunities to consider the 'power of language' at the same time as it obscures the 'language of power'. Gender is a particular casualty in such a climate.

This review outlines key areas of research in relation to the following: the nature of father involvement; factors influencing involvement; the influence of fathers on children; and social policy developments. It reviews the practice oriented research which has emerged in the UK as engaging fathers has become part of the agenda for many child welfare agencies. It highlights the gaps in research and policy developments in relation to statutory agencies such as social services.