Changing Paradigms and Conditions of Childhood: Implications for the Social Professions and Social Work

摘要

This paper examines the significance of new developments in the social studies of childhood for the social professions and social work. These evolving fields of knowledge present challenges to social work as they seek to reshape traditional accounts of children and integrate revised knowledge to inform practice and policy issues. The article begins by mapping the social studies of childhood and then considers the models of childhood that underpin professional knowledge and practice. The next section examines the ways in which aspects of these paradigms have entered policy and practice. This article considers how childhood studies might contribute to social work through the development of a more integrated and distinctive model of professional practice.