First published in 1999, this book responds to the meaning given to the welfare principle attracts a great deal of controversy and explores the reasons for the controversy and examines the growing legal significance attached to the principle. In an illuminating and accessible manner, this informative volume:

Part 1. The Legal Origins of Child Welfare. 1. State Recognition of Child Welfare: Feudalism; the Common Law; and the Poor Laws. 2. Judicial Acknowledgement of Guardianship Duties: the Jurisdiction of Equity. 3. Legislative Endorsement of Child Welfare: Statutory Law Defines and Extends the Principle's Role, Function and Weighting. Part 2. The Content and Structural Role of the Welfare Principle in the Legal System. 4. Welfare Interests and the Child. 5. The Legal System and Welfare Interests. 6. Identifying Welfare Interests. 7. Representing Welfare Interests. Part 3. Public Family Law. 8. Care and Supervision. 9. Control. 10. Protection. 11. Prevention and Promotion. Part 4. Private Family Law. 12. Parenting Arrangements: Uncontested Proceedings. 13. Parenting Arrangements: Contested Proceedings. 14. Adoption. Part 5. The Future Role of the Welfare Principle: An International Perspective. 15. International Influences and the Shaping of the Modern Welfare Principle in the UK. 16. Family Law and the Welfare Principle: Some Implications for the Future.