Includes bibliographical references and index.

Machine generated contents note: -- Introduction: child protection practice -- Knocking on the door of history: the emergence of child protection practice -- Child abuse and the development (and decline) of intimate child protection practice -- Streets, housing estates, doorsteps: getting to the child -- The home visit: houses and the struggle to protect the abused child -- The reverberations of home visiting: going into the depths to protect children -- Hospitals, office interviews and the emotional complexity of practice -- Working with children in child protection -- The importance of touch in child protection -- Working with fathers -- Working with mothers -- Culturally sensitive child protection practice -- Multi-agency working -- Good authority and working with hostile and deceptive adults and overcoming resistance -- Spaces for reflection 1: the car in child protection -- Spaces for reflection 2: supervision and organisational practices that promote good child protection -- Conclusion: intimate child protection practice.

"When it comes to child protection, who is showing social workers exactly what they should be doing? In this book, Harry Ferguson guides you through the day-to-day realities of child protection practice, outlining its deep complexities along with the knowledge, skills, values and organizational supports necessary to do this difficult job"--