The Oxford Handbook of Children and the Law

Abstract

This volume of collected essays by many of the world’s leading scholars of child welfare and law combines thorough research on a comprehensive range of legal issues salient in children’s lives with the most sophisticated theoretical and policy analysis of the law, informed by the most current empirical research on child development and welfare. The book’s organization follows the life of a child, more or less, chronologically from pre-birth to adolescence and, correspondingly, a sequence of ever-widening social spheres, from the womb to family to society to the world. The topical range is great, encompassing assisted reproduction, protection of fetuses, parentage, child maltreatment, medical care, education, custody disputes, children’s privacy, delinquency, minimum age laws, and strategies for advocating for youths. There is also substantial geographic breadth; the authors of the volume’s chapters represent four continents and roughly a dozen countries. A unifying feature of the volume is that all chapters put children at the center of attention; the authors write about topics relating to children within their respective areas of expertise from a perspective that focuses first and foremost on how the law impacts children’s wellbeing and experience of life. This often produces unfamiliar, thought-provoking conclusions. The Handbook constitutes an invaluable reference as well as a stimulating course text.

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