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This thesis is a study of child protection services between 1933 and 1970, with a focus on the activities of two local authorities, Birmingham City Council in the Midlands, and Westmorland Council in the north-west of England. This thesis explores the arguments articulated by senior policy makers, social workers and the parents of children placed in state and voluntary care to better understand the policies, practices, and experiences of those associated with the care system. It is argued that the efforts of both central and local government officials, tasked with protecting children's wellbeing, were often resisted by a public whose support was considered vital to keeping children safe. Acts of resistance often arose because of contrasting assessments of how best to support looked after children. Many of the practices endorsed by the state were informed by psychological principles. During the 1930s psychology was treated with scepticism by the public. In the aftermath of the Second World War, however, parents increasingly drew, selectively, on the work of psychological thinkers when opposing the practices of government social workers. By drawing upon the private correspondence of local authority staff, alongside government papers and articles published in both the national and local press, this thesis makes a substantial contribution to histories of the family and the welfare state in mid-twentieth century England. It also challenges the assumption that the public only began to take a concerted interest in child neglect following the 'discovery' of battered babies in the early 1960s.