Kay Biesel is Professor of Child and Youth Services, focusing on child protection, at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland.Judith Masson is Professor of Socio-legal Studies at the University of Bristol.Nigel Parton is Professor of Applied Childhood Studies at the University of Huddersfield.Tarja Pösö is Professor of Social Work at Tampere University.

• 1 Errors and mistakes in child protection: an introductionKay Biesel, Judith Masson, Nigel Parton and Tarja Pösö2 Errors and mistakes in child protection: understandingsand responsibilitiesKay Biesel and Michelle Cottier3 England: attempting to learn from mistakes in anincreasingly ‘risk averse’ professional contextJudith Masson and Nigel Parton4 The social construction of child abuse in Ireland: publicdiscourse, policy challenges and practice failuresCaroline Shore and Fred Powell5 The level- headed approach on errors and mistakes inDutch child protection: an individual duty or a sharedresponsibility?Kirti Zeijlmans, Tom van Yperen and Mónica López López6 The Finnish approach to errors and mistakes in childprotection: trust in practitioners and service users?Essi Julin and Tarja Pösö7 Errors and mistakes in the Norwegian child protectionsystemMarit Skivenes and Øyvind Tefre8 The political- administrative and the professionalapproach to errors and mistakes in Swedish child protectionInger Kjellberg and Staffan Höjer9 Errors and mistakes in child protection in Switzerland: amissed opportunity of refl ection?Brigitte Müller, Kay Biesel and Clarissa Schär10 Discourses, approaches and strategies on errors andmistakes in child protection in GermanyHeinz Kindler, Christine Gerber and Susanna Lillig11 Dysfunctions in French child protectionHélène Join- Lambert and Gilles Séraphin12 Errors and mistakes in child protection: an unspokenissue in Italy?Teresa Bertotti13 Preventing and responding to errors in US child protectionJill Duerr Berrick and Jaclyn Chambers14 Dealing with errors and mistakes in childprotection: similarities and differences among countriesKay Biesel, Judith Masson, Nigel Parton and Tarja Pösö