Evolution of child protection and child welfare policies in selected European Countries

In modern societies, there is a constant need to develop our understanding of, and our provision for, child protection.Due to the increasing complexity of modern societies, the healthy and well-rounded development of children and young people is threatened for several reasons. The mechanisms of this are complex, and vary a good deal from country to country. In the course of time, societies have developed different kinds of infrastructures dealing with this challenge. The country-specific traditions of child protection policies and practices are influenced by the same social, cultural, economic, and political factors as the development of society in general. The chapters in this book examine the development and current state of social policy, legislation, agency provision and practices in the different European countries represented, with the aim of contributing to this Europe-wide understanding and set of developments.