The first comprehensive account of how the law and practice of child
protection in Scotland has developed from its earliest origins to the
present day, within the context of a changing world
Key Features
- Places the Scottish juvenile court in worldwide perspective and
explores why the juvenile court ideals remain central to the
contemporary children's hearing system in Scotland, dealing with both
child offenders and neglected and abused children.
- Gives detailed analysis of the legislation and explores the
parliamentary debates surrounding Acts including the Children Act
1908, the Adoption of Children (Scotland) Act 1930, the Children and
Young Persons (Scotland) Acts 1932 and 1937, the Children Act 1948,
the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, the Children (Scotland) Act 1995
and the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014
- Preserves in accessible form many long-forgotten legal and social
aims, cases and secondary legislation
Kenneth Norrie traces the assumptions that underlay child protection law
at particular periods of time and identifies the pressures for change -
giving a clearer understanding of how and why the contemporary law is
designed and operates as it does.
Particular issues are traced in legislative detail, including court
processes, the changing thresholds for state intervention, the
increasing regulation of children's homes and foster care, the
developing rules on corporal punishment and the earlier practice of
compulsory emigration to the colonies of children removed from their
parents.
The transformation of adoption is also covered in comprehensive detail.
In drawing out key themes and common threads, Norrie sets contemporary
developments against their historical context and offers a fuller
understanding of child protection law in Scotland.
