This title was first published in 2003. This book critically examines the moral and political status of the child by a consideration of three interrelated questions: What rights if any does the child have? What rights over and duties in respect of a child do parents have? What rights over and duties in respect of a child does the state have? David Archard adopts three areas for particular discussion on the practical implications of the general theoretical issues: education, child protection policy, and the medical treatment of children. Providing a clear legal context and a sharper, contemporary discussion of the question of rights, this book presents a clear introduction to the key issues in the moral and political status of children.

Different theories of childhood, children's rights and the relationships between children, parents and state are examined. The care system and the extent to which children have been, and are involved in decisions is the main focus.

In the 1930s, buoyed by the potential of the New Deal, child welfare reformers hoped to formalize and modernize their methods, partly through professional casework but more importantly through the loving care of temporary, substitute families. Today, however, the foster care system is widely criticized for failing the children and families it is intended to help. How did a vision of dignified services become virtually synonymous with the breakup of poor families and a disparaged form of "welfare" that stigmatizes the women who provide it, the children who receive it, and their families? Tracing the evolution of the modern American foster care system from its inception in the 1930s through the 1970s, Catherine Rymph argues that deeply gendered, domestic ideals, implicit assumptions about the relative value of poor children, and the complex public/private nature of American welfare provision fueled the cultural resistance to funding maternal and parental care. What emerged was a system of public social provision that was actually subsidized by foster families themselves, most of whom were concentrated toward the socioeconomic lower half, much like the children they served. Analyzing the ideas, debates, and policies surrounding foster care and foster parents' relationship to public welfare, Rymph reveals the framework for the building of the foster care system and draws out its implications for today's child support networks.

Extensively revised to include new and expanded coverage on current and central issues, this Third Edition of CHILD, FAMILY AND STATE builds on the success of its influential predecessors, which have shaped the way this field is viewed today. In a concise yet comprehensive manner, these expert authors provide an analytical framework for examining the full range of legal questions relevant to children. They efficiently cover this rapidly moving and unsettled field-focusing on the legal distribution of power and responsibility for children among the child, The family And The state, and how such power should be allocated. Mnooking and Weisburg address government benefits, child abuse and neglect, medical treatment of children, custody law, state-enforced limitations on the liberty of minors, and juvenile delinquency. At the heart of each of this book's seven chapters are questions and problems that spark classroom discussion and stimulate student thought. New topical coverage includes: school voucher, coporal punishment, minors; access to sexually explicit materials (e.g., movies, video games, music), children and AIDS, and paternity establishment. the authors have also thoroughly updated this casebook to provide the latest developments on : abortion, including the 1992 Casey case; governmant benefits to minors (AFDC, Medicare, etc.); child abuse registries (Valmonte v. Bane); foster care, including Artist M v. Suter; custody, with changes in the primary caretaker presumption; adoption, including the Baby Jessica case and unwed fathers' rights; and child support. This book's teachability is further enhanced by its flexibility; it can easily be tailored to suit your coverage needs.

Offering a serious and sustained philosophical examination of children's rights, David Archard provides a clear and accessible introduction to the topic. The second edition is fully revised and updated and include a new preface and two new chapters.

This title was first published in 2003. This book critically examines the moral and political status of the child by a consideration of three interrelated questions: What rights if any does the child have? What rights over and duties in respect of a child do parents have? What rights over and duties in respect of a child does the state have? David Archard adopts three areas for particular discussion on the practical implications of the general theoretical issues: education, child protection policy, and the medical treatment of children. Providing a clear legal context and a sharper, contemporary discussion of the question of rights, this book presents a clear introduction to the key issues in the moral and political status of children.