Moral Panics and Social Work: towards a sceptical view of UK child protection

Gary  Clapton; Viviene E. Cree; Mark Smith

doi:10.1177/0261018312457860

Moral Panics and Social Work: towards a sceptical view of UK child protection

Gary Clapton (Lead / Corresponding author), Viviene E. Cree, Mark Smith

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

47 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this paper we apply the lens of moral panic to analyse child protection social work in the UK. We suggest that many of the anxieties that beset social work are best understood as moral panics and discuss processes in which ‘claims-makers’ have introduced and amplified concerns into panics. We discuss two examples of anxieties over child endangerment: the first is concerned with the foundation of the NSPCC and its campaign for the Children’s Charter of 1889. The second is the contemporary 21st century anxiety over children and young people’s use of the Internet, exemplified in the activities of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and their ‘Children and Young Persons’ Global Online Charter’.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	197-217
Number of pages	21
Journal	Critical Social Policy
Volume	33
Issue number	2
Early online date	6 Sept 2012
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0261018312457860
Publication status	Published - 1 May 2013

Keywords

child protection
moral panics
social work

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title = "Moral Panics and Social Work: towards a sceptical view of UK child protection",

abstract = "In this paper we apply the lens of moral panic to analyse child protection social work in the UK. We suggest that many of the anxieties that beset social work are best understood as moral panics and discuss processes in which {\textquoteleft}claims-makers{\textquoteright} have introduced and amplified concerns into panics. We discuss two examples of anxieties over child endangerment: the first is concerned with the foundation of the NSPCC and its campaign for the Children{\textquoteright}s Charter of 1889. The second is the contemporary 21st century anxiety over children and young people{\textquoteright}s use of the Internet, exemplified in the activities of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and their {\textquoteleft}Children and Young Persons{\textquoteright} Global Online Charter{\textquoteright}.",

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Moral Panics and Social Work: towards a sceptical view of UK child protection

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Keywords

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