BOOK: Kieran WALSH, The Development of Child Protection Law and Policy Children, Risk and Modernities (London: Routledge, 2020). ISBN 9780367276317, £120.00

(Source: Routledge)

Routledge has published a new book on the history of child protection law, focused on the Republic of Ireland.

ABOUT THE BOOK

This book examines how child protection law has been shaped by the transition to late modernity and how it copes with the ever-changing concept of risk.

The book traces the evolution of the contemporary child protection system through historical changes, assessing the factors that have influenced the development of legal responses to abuse over a 130-year period. It does so by focussing on the Republic of Ireland where child protection has become emblematic of wider social change. The work draws on a wide range of primary and secondary sources including legislation, case law and official and media reports of child protection inquiries. It also utilises insights developed through an extensive examination of parliamentary debates on child protection matters. These materials are assessed through the lens of critical discourse analysis to explore the relationship between law, social policy and social theory as they effect child protection. While the book utilises primarily Irish sources, this multidisciplinary approach ensures the argument has international applicability.

The book will be a valuable resource for all those with an interest in the development of child protection law.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kieran Walsh is a Senior Lecturer in Family and Child Law at the University of Portsmouth, UK.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Modernity, Reflexivity, Risk And The Law;

Chapter 2: Threats, Victims And Agents: Victorian Law Reform And The Beginning Of Modern Child Protection;

Chapter 3: Children In The Constitutional Order Of Traditional Modernity;

Chapter 4: Children And Risk In Independent Ireland, 1921-1970;

Chapter 5: The Twilight Of Traditional Modernity: Children In Child Protection Law And Policy, 1970-1993;

Chapter 6: Children’s Rights And Constitutional Change;

Chapter 7: Child Abuse And Risk In A New Modernity: Child Protecion Law And Policy 1992 – 2006;

Chapter 8: Agents Of Change: Children And Risk In Reflexive Modernity 2006-2017;

More info here