Beyond the state: Conceptualizing protection in community settings

In the last two decades, the child welfare system has undergone a series of dramatic changes. We have moved from a broad concern for the social welfare of children and families to a restricted focus on detecting, investigating and assessing instances of child physical and sexual abuse and neglect. Spiraling reports of suspected or actual abuse and neglect, higher caseloads, reduced resources and lack of support for both families and workers, have all contributed to narrowing the focus of contemporary child welfare to one more aptly characterized as child protection. Child protection discourse is concerned with the nature and extent of state intervention into family life for the purpose of protecting children at risk of harm. While much attention has been given to boundaries and procedures for state intervention, it is less common to critically examine the actual activities involved in protection of children. An exception to this is the feminist scholarship on the topic, illustrating that protection is ver...