Legal Concepts of Childhood

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Concepts of who and what children are and what childhood consists of have changed over time. Our historical and contemporary notions of childhood also change according to the context of the interaction between the child and the state. This book is concerned with various ideas of what childhood consists of where the child is involved with the legal system. An identification of legal concepts of childhood can offer many insights into our treatment of children, the capacities which we expect them (possibly unfairly) to possess and the extent of any protection which they deserve or can expect from those charged with the responsibility for their welfare. Each essay in this collection focuses on a particular legal discipline which centrally involves children whether as litigants, victims or perpetrators of crimes, owners of property, recipients of welfare services etc. The object of the analysis is to assess how children are regarded by lawyers in each discipline; for example, as objects of concern, requiring protection; as autonomous possessors of rights; as lacking in moral consciousness or full mental capacity; or as fully aware of and accountable for their actions.

Reviews

This publication provides a useful analysis of how our legal system views children. It will be of interest to all those involved with children in the legal system. -- The Review Editor * ChildRIGHT *
The analyses presented here are accessible and, for readers who are unfamiliar with the law relating to children, they succeed in conveying some of the key shifts in thinking and policy that have taken place over the past two decades. The collection provides further evidence of the quality of the growing scholarship on children and the law. -- Jeremy Roche, The Open University * Children and Society *

Author Bio

Julia Fionda is Senior Lecturer and Director of the Institute of Criminal Justice in the Law School at Southampton University.