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The purpose of this paper is to chart the history of personal social services for children and families in the UK and examine the factors that have influenced it. Special attention is given to changing perceptions of rights, the impact of scandals and the contribution of child development research.

Analysis of historical documents and research reports using four methods: a timeline of milestones, demarcation of distinct developmental periods, trends in policy and practice and comparisons of children’s needs and experiences at different times.

The evolution of services has not been linear. In policy, there have been reform and retrenchment, amalgamation and differentiation. Practice has been shaped by the emergence of new problems and the disappearance of old ones as well as by legislation, extreme events, research and finance, all occurring in specific political, moral and economic contexts.

An analysis of developments in children’s services in their political, economic, moral and research contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the legacy of six pioneer child care researchers.

An assessment of the achievements of a generation of child care researchers.

The early researchers were not only highly innovative in terms of theory and methodologies but also left a set of studies that stimulated and informed subsequent studies.

A review of the work of six pioneering child care researchers.

The paper aims to explore the relationship between accounting and racial violence through an investigation of sharecropping in the postbellum American South.

A range of primary sources including peonage case files of the US Department of Justice and the archives of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) are utilised. Data are analysed by reference to Randall Collins' theory of violence. Consistent with this theory, a micro-sociological approach to examining violent encounters is employed.

It is demonstrated that the production of alternative or competing accounts, accounting manipulation and failure to account generated interactions where confrontational tension culminated in bluster, physical attacks and lynching. Such violence took place in the context of potent racial ideologies and institutions.

The paper is distinctive in its focus on the interface between accounting and “actual” (as opposed to symbolic) violence. It reveals how accounting processes and traces featured in the highly charged emotional fields from which physical violence could erupt. The study advances knowledge of the role of accounting in race relations from the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, a largely unexplored period in the accounting history literature. It also seeks to extend the research agenda on accounting and slavery (which has hitherto emphasised chattel slavery) to encompass the practice of debt peonage.

The origins and surrounding politics of the three Children Acts of 1908, 1948 and 1989 are examined in order to see why and how they evolved when they did and to consider what, if any, generalisations emerge.

Much is heard about children and families but less about the policy implications of the parenting task in today's society. I argue that the demands placed upon parents have increased but that this has yet to be reflected in broader‐based policies.

The Children Act 1989 ended a period of four decades during which the education of children and young people in care was almost entirely neglected. However, it was another 20 years before education took its rightful place at the centre of provision for the care of children away from home. This article considers the contribution made to this process by the Act and its accompanying Guidance, what progress has been made and what were the obstacles, past and continuing, that have made it so difficult to narrow the gap in attainment between looked‐after children and others.

Aims to assess the development of clinical governance within NHS Trusts in the West Midlands by means of a cross‐sectional qualitative study based on in‐depth interviews and observation with all acute and non‐acute (n equals 43) Trusts in the West Midlands Region to determine the rating of Trusts’ competencies across five areas of clinical governance. There was a fourfold variation in the development of clinical governance across Trusts, measured against the identified competencies. Trusts with high competency scores showed a number of characteristics, including clear leadership at executive team level for the agenda, a collaborative style of working between clinicians and management, clinicians involved in management and a culture of openness and empowerment of front‐line staff. Concludes that attention must be paid to the organisational and cultural environment within Trusts, as well as resource issues, if high quality clinical governance is to become the norm

The purposes of this paper are threefold. First, to draw attention to an overlooked feature of children’s institutions in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; namely, the widespread existence of boys’ brass bands. The second purpose is to explain why these were created and the third is to consider what implications membership of a band had for a boy’s subsequent life.

The paper relies upon archival and secondary sources.

The study traces the influences that led to the formation of so many boys’ bands. These included the background of brass bands in popular culture; the belief in the power of music as an agent of social reform; the money-spinning value of a band that gave public performances, and the opportunity for a band-boy to join a military band, thereby securing a foothold in the juvenile labour market. Over and above these findings is the fact that so many boys from deprived backgrounds could be taught to play a musical instrument to a competent standard.

As far as the author knows this is the only study of children’s homes’ bands. Its value lies in emphasising the fact that some of the most disadvantaged children are likely to have latent aptitudes and talents that can be discovered and developed. That is the message for today.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the aspects of social work for children, primarily in England.

It is based on reflections on research undertaken by the author prior to 1995 and after 2015.

The paper explores the interaction between people – effective leaders and practitioners – and systems.

It is an opinion piece, and does not present findings from a single study.

It urges systems that do not restrict the capability of practitioners.

The value of social work services at times of significant social disadvantage demands strong public policy attention.

The study draws on several research and case studies in over 20 English local authorities

The Government's proposals for the regulation of social care services are set out in the Social Services White Paper. They include changes to the inspection of services, the abolition of the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work and the establishment of a new statutory body, the General Social Care Council (GSCC), to be responsible for regulating conduct and practice standards for all who work in social care. This article describes the background to the proposed general council and its links to training and service regulation, outlines the Government's approach to setting and enforcing standards, and suggests ways in which the general council will affect those who use and work in learning disability services.