Martin Robb is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care at The Open University.Heather Montgomery is a Reader in the Anthropology of Childhood at The Open University.Rachel Thomson is a Professor of Childhood and Youth Studies at the University of Sussex.

• Introduction ~ Martin Robb and Heather Montgomery;Part One: Conceptual contexts;Critical practice in work with children and young people: perspectives from research ~ Phil Jones, Christos Charitou, Daniel Mercieca and Ximena Poblete;Meeting the needs of pregnant and parenting teenagers using research: pointers for practice ~ Lisa Arai;‘New experts’ in the history of child protection ~ Jennifer Crane; ‘I blame the parents’: families, experts and the state ~ Heather Montgomery and Victoria Cooper; Working effectively with African Caribbean young women: an intersectional approach ~ Jenny Douglas; Devolution and children’s rights in the United Kingdom ~ Osian Rees; Part Two: Professional contexts;Children’s perspectives informing professional welfare practice: a comparative view ~ Maria Eriksson and Keith Pringle;Beyond talk: learning from children and young people experiencing a family health crisis ~ Victoria Cooper, Jane Payler and Stephanie Bennett;Childcare social work: perspectives on the professional ~ Andy Rixon;Multiagency practice and professional identity ~ Anna Souhami;Materialising professionalism in the nursery: exploring the intimate connection between critique and creation ~ Jayne Osgood; Wanted men? Gendered discourses in work with children and young people ~ Martin Robb; Part Three: Personal contexts;The making of a good teacher: past, present and future perspectives ~ Jane Martin; The personal, professional and maternal in children’s services ~ Sue Higham;Working with children experiencing disenfranchised grief: the use of supervision and reflection ~ Andy Taylor;“Well you would say that…” Tales of parental/professional/personal experience ~ Jonathan Rix.

`This new edition is an enormously valuable resource for students and practitioners who want an up-to-date, expert and wide-ranging exploration of the changing policy and professional contexts that shape work with children and young people’. Robert MacDonald, University of Huddersfield