Introduction

Abstract

This chapter positions Child Protection in England within long histories of child protection, childhood, and family. Situating this book as a history of modern Britain, it also discusses how the voluntary organisations studied relate to broader historiographical examinations of voluntary action and public participation in the post-war period. This introduction also explores the theoretical underpinning of this book in terms of thinking around expertise, experience, and emotion; complex and shifting constructs which have nonetheless become significant—and visible—in late twentieth-century Britain.