Children and Their Families: Contact, Rights and Welfare - Paperback

by Andrew Bainham (Editor), Bridget Lindley (Editor), Martin Richards (Editor)

This book is concerned with the regulation of family relationships, in particular the issue of openness and contact in the many different family situations in which it may arise. The shift towards a presumption of contact, and its articulation within diverse fields of family law and practice raises a whole series of questions which this book seeks to explore. For example: Why has the contact presumption emerged? What is meant by contact, and with whom. What is the value and purpose of it? What
makes it work or not work? What is the role of law and other forms of external intervention in promoting, regulating or facilitating contact and to what extent should 'familial' relationships be subject to state regulation? More broadly, what can we infer about current conceptualisations of family, parenting (and the relative importance of social and biological parenthood) and childhood from policy and practice towards contact?

Author Biography

Andrew Bainham is a Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge and Reader in Family Law and Policy at the University of Cambridge.
Bridget Lindley is a solicitor and family mediator and was a Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge.
Martin Richards is Emeritus Professor of Family Research at the Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge.
Liz Trinder is a Reader in Family Studies at the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology at Newscastle University.