Review: Critical Perspectives on Safeguarding Children Karen Broadhurst, Chris Grover and Janet Jamieson (eds) Wiley, Chichester, 2009, 274pp, ISBN 9780470697566, 31.99 (pbk)

This edited book arose from conversations that took place between members of staff in the Department of Applied Social Science at the University of Lancaster, England, related to a series of concerns with the New Labour government’s social policies for children and families particularly and the whole stream of changes introduced with the Every Child Matters: Change for Children programme (HM Government, 2004)

Corporate parenting in the network society

In the past few years the risks associated with use of the Internet and social networking sites by children and young people have become a recurrent focus of attention for the media, the public, and policymakers. Parents, caregivers, and child care professionals alike are rightly concerned about exposure to pornography, pedophiles, and cyberbullies. At the same time Internet researchers have been steadily collecting evidence about the actual opportunities and risks associated with the young people's use of the Internet. In this article we describe some of the emerging evidence on opportunities and risks for young people and consider the challenges for social welfare professional charged with the role of safeguarding “looked after” children