Julia Brannen and Margaret O'Brien (eds.), Children in Families. Research and Policy, Falmer Press, London, 1996, xiii + 224 pp., £36.00 hard, £13.95 paper.Hartley Dean (ed.), Parents' Duties, Children's Debts: The Limits of Policy Intervention, Arena, Aldershot, 1996, iv + 188 pp., £29.50 hard.

Abstract

The social and economic status of children and the social construction of childhood have become subjects of increasing interest over the past decade. Children in Families provides a rich collection of essays on children and childhood from a variety of perspectives. The first few papers address some important theoretical issues. Chris Jenks discusses the social construction of childhood in post-modern society and the way in which childhood has come to represent security and stability in a world where adult life and relationships are increasingly insecure and unstable. He argues that the social response to child abuse is an attempt to preserve childhood and parent–child relations as a last remaining symbol of stability.