A History of Scottish Child Protection Law

Details how the law and practice of child protection in Scotland has developed, from the Poor Law to GIRFEC.

• Places the Scottish juvenile court in worldwide perspective and explores why the juvenile court ideals remain central to the contemporary children’s hearing system in Scotland, dealing with both child offenders and neglected and abused children
• Gives detailed analysis of the legislation and explores the parliamentary debates surrounding Acts including the Children Act 1908, the Adoption of Children (Scotland) Act 1930, the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Acts 1932 and 1937, the Children Act 1948, the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 and the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014
• Preserves in accessible form many long-forgotten legal and social aims, cases and secondary legislation

Kenneth Norrie traces the assumptions that underlay child protection law at particular periods of time, from its earliest origins to the present day. He identifies the pressures for change – giving a clearer understanding of how and why the contemporary law is designed and operates as it does.

Norrie traces particular issues in legislative detail, including court processes, the changing thresholds for state intervention, the increasing regulation of children’s homes and foster care, the developing rules on corporal punishment and the earlier practice of compulsory emigration to the colonies of children removed from their parents.

The transformation of adoption is also covered in comprehensive detail. In drawing out key themes and common threads, Norrie sets contemporary developments against their historical context and offers a fuller understanding of child protection law in Scotland.