Title: Emotional Politics of Social Work and Child Protection
Description: For several decades, social work and child protection systems have been subject to accelerating cycles of crisis and reform, with each crisis involving intense media and political scrutiny. In understanding the nature and causes of this cycle, little attention has been paid to the importance of collective emotions. Using a range of cases from the UK, and also considering cases from the Netherlands, the US and New Zealand, this book introduces the concept of emotional politics. It shows how collective emotions, such as anger, shame, fear and disgust, are central to constructions of risk and blame, and are generated and reflected by official documents, politicians and the media. The book considers strategies for challenging these "emotional politics", including identifying models for a more politically engaged stance for the social work profession.
Subjects: Child abuse, Great britain, social conditions, Social service, Political aspects, Child welfare, POLITICAL SCIENCE, Public Policy, Social Services & Welfare, SOCIAL SCIENCE, Human Services, Social Work, Society, Social work with children, Public opinion