`A good foundation for those intent on further research' - ChildRight `It is intelligent, lively, clear, and well written' - Professor Hugh Cunningham, University of Kent at Canterbury `This is an excellent source book which is up-to-date and covers key debates on childhood in an accessible way' - Professor Andy Furlong, University of Glasgow In recent years there has been a growing interest in the study of `children' and `childhood' within the social sciences. Children, Welfare and the State provides readers with a comprehensive critical introduction to modern childhood studies. In addition to engaging with the broad theoretical debates within the `new' sociology of childhood and developmental psychology the book: - Explores key questions in relation to researching childhood, children's agency and social constructionist perspectives; - Traces historical and contemporary developments in social policy responses to children and childhood; - Examines the primary sites of state intervention in regulating and shaping children's lives. - Re-states the primary significance of social class and other structural divisions in understanding children's experiences of childhood; - Systematically assesses the impact of inequality and poverty on children and childhood. Children, Welfare and the State has been tailored to appeal to those studying children and childhood within social policy, sociology, psychology, criminology, history, social work and youth and community work courses.