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.

Table of Contents:
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