1st Edition

The Limits of State Power & Private Rights Exploring Child Protection & Safeguarding Referrals and Assessments

By Lauren Devine Copyright 2017
    224 Pages 5 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    225 Pages 5 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This book tackles a complex area of law, social policy and social work, providing a comprehensive analysis of the theoretical, practical and legal boundaries of State power following safeguarding and child protection referrals in England. The book examines the history, rationale and implications of the current position, concluding that the balance of power is weighted in favour of the State.

    The Limits of State Power & Private Rights is ground-breaking in its approach to the subject and its detailed, critical analysis. Traditionally the subject matter of the book is considered within a welfare framework. The analysis in this book argues that a policing agenda is embedded within policy but without appropriate safeguards and controls, creating potentially irreconcilable tension described by the author as the ‘welfare/policing dichotomy’.

    This book is of importance to academics, lawyers, social workers, policy makers, practitioners and service users. The book is written so as to be accessible to a multi-disciplinary audience, but is sufficiently detailed so as to be suitable for specialists and non-specialists alike in this subject area. The chapters include introductory and contextual sections as well as doctrinal, theoretical and socio-legal analysis. Although the focus is on the English system, the book is equally applicable to the many worldwide jurisdictions adopting the Anglo/American ‘child rights’ based framework of child protection. It is also of use as a comparative work in countries where a family support based system is practiced.

    Introduction

    Exploring the issue: State power and private rights

    Central themes and structure of the book

    Chapter 1 - Development of the State’s role: child welfare & family policing

    The State’s developing role in children’s welfare: good intentions and opposing narratives

    The development of child welfare principles

    The development of State principles for the protection of children

    Moving from parental autonomy to parental responsibility

    The refocusing debate

    Safeguarding and early intervention

    Conclusion: the modern categorisation of levels of surveillance and interference

    Chapter 2 - Defining and measuring the problem

    Defining child abuse

    Issues of measuring the prevalence of, and predicting, child abuse

    Prevalence: measuring of the amount of child abuse in England

    Measuring the outcome

    Risk prediction: can child abuse be predicted and prevented?

    Conclusion: issues of measuring success

    Chapter 3 – Identifying families for policing

    The modern surveillance role of the state: identifying children for referral

    Introducing mass surveillance and recording of information about children: part of the e-Government agenda

    Policing by surveillance of all families: intelligence gathering and its limits

    Conclusion: the challenge of balancing consent and coercion in the surveillance framework

    Chapter 4 - The policing of parents: social work involvement

    Social work response to referrals: State power and private rights

    The framework of assessment

    The Munro review of child protection: final report, a child centred system and changes to Working Together to Safeguard Children

    The Public Law Outline 2014

    The process of assessment

    Consensual assessment

    Coercive assessment

    Conclusion: issues of safeguards and controls over State powers of assessment

    Chapter 5 – Paradigms, policy & policing

    Smith’s schema: exploring the ‘fractured lens’

    The stages of the assessment procedures in ‘child protection’ and ‘safeguarding’ schema

    Conclusion: implications for assessment

    Chapter 6 – The balance of State power and private rights: considering protections for children and parents

    Moving from ‘ownership’ to ‘responsibility’: disowned children and the burden of policing parental responsibility

    What is the legal and policy framework of ‘child protection’ and ‘safeguarding’ trying to achieve?

    By what mechanisms is the legislative and policy framework trying to achieve its purpose?

    The issue of families harmed by State surveillance and assessment

    Defining harm

    Unsubstantiated allegations and unfounded concerns

    Conclusion: power imbalance and individual harm

    Chapter 7 - The question of remedies

    Complaints procedures and Judicial Review

    Defamation

    The European Convention on Human Rights 1950 and the Human Rights Act 1998

    Common law negligence

    Conclusion: remedies – an inadequate position

    Chapter 8 – Reforming policy: the politics of change

    The question of reform

    Framework for a new approach

    Privacy, data and consent: taking the Anderson recommendations seriously

    Referrals: improving methods of making and recording referrals

    Assessments: a bespoke investigatory body and code of practice

    Outcomes: issues of exoneration and redress in unsubstantiated cases

    Specific remedies in unsubstantiated cases

    Conclusion: rebalancing – the basis for reform

    Conclusion

    Index

    Biography

    Dr Lauren Devine, Associate Professor of Law, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK is a Barrister writing about State power, private rights and child protection. Lauren is Principal Investigator of the Economic and Social Research Council funded project ‘Rethinking Child Protection Strategy’.