The author presents a strong argument for critical social work which is well situated in both historical and contemporary political agendas. The book provides a much needed contribution to social work knowledge, although at times the language is over-complicated and the analysis could be simplified. However, theory and concepts of critical practice, which aim for a better and more humane world, are applied well to specific areas of social work with children. Challenges for practitioners are confronted with reference to case studies providing options for exploring the implementation of a critical approach.

In line with the ethical principles of human rights and social justice, it is suggested that social workers should build alliances with like-minded professionals, and work collectively through trade unions, professional associations and wider social movements to resist the neoliberal tide that causes so much anxiety and suffering for so many while simultaneously ensuring that those with wealth and power are allowed to continue their exploits unabated. The author warns against models of practice that support and reinforce the status quo, such as maintenance approaches which work towards the individual complying with the existing social order. Concepts of empowerment and advocacy are appropriately interrogated in this context. In contrast, recognising social inequality and oppression, the focus of a socialist/collective approach is structural change. Community action is a method of practice which helps people to come together, identify issues of concern and take collective action to resolve them. Domination is created structurally but experienced personally and the author emphasises that, whilst in pursuit of collective solutions, people's pain has to be responded to. Social work with individuals needs to take place with sensitivity to cultural and social relationships in a context of challenging existing exploitative power relations.

The author considers British child care and youth justice policies and is critical of a government steer on the criminalisation of children and defining them as future compliant citizens whilst minimising the impact of their backgrounds of oppression, poverty, poor housing and other deprivation. With similar political analysis, the rush for permanence and fast track adoption is explained in relation to cost cutting and the transfer of children from poor families, often living on welfare benefits, to wealthier families.

The author provides an in-depth critique of the business model of social work where service users’ needs, along with social work practice, have been subordinated to the needs of managers and their organisations, transforming a relationship-based service into a bureaucratic one. Such managerialism enabled a simpler route towards privatisation, and deprofessionalisation became part of the agenda. New agencies were created, having a negative impact on social work, where the influence of social work declined and work that once was the preserve of highly trained professionals was increasingly carried out by less qualified support outreach and other staff.

It is unfortunate that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is only addressed late in the text and the ‘best interests’ principle is rarely mentioned. Much emphasis is on the rights of families rather than those specifically of children. For instance, whilst racism, sexism and disablism are addressed, the term childism (meaning discrimination against and oppression of children) is absent.

Prevention is presented as an either/or to protection – an agenda which began in the mid-90s. The author fails to recognise that this saw the demise of child protection protocols, structures and systems, which led to the abolition of the child protection register in 2008.The policy, based on an American model, aimed to reduce statutory intervention to a minimum in order to enable other work with children and families to be privatised. This was the reason for the split between investigation and assessment, protection and prevention, risk and need. Neither is it acknowledged that there has been a shift from the investigation of child abuse, with a focus on identification and prosecution of perpetrators, to the assessment of children's needs, or that there has been a split between the work of police in investigating crime and social workers conducting assessments of need. These developments have left a gap where the joint investigation of significant harm once took place and where children now slip through the protective net. The latest version of the statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children has removed all content about how to jointly investigate organised crime against children (Department for Education, 2013).

The two distinct processes of investigation and assessment are not recognised as such in this book. The author states that surely by completing the various and numerous assessment headings and then doing an analysis one has actually done the risk assessment. He writes critically that, since the Baby Peter case, social work continues to be dominated by child protection. However, under the guise of reducing bureaucracy and allowing social workers increased professional judgement, the guidance has been drastically reduced and left mainly to local variation. Discussion of the social construction of child abuse leads the author to warn of definitional inflation and yet this approach may deter social workers from acting rigorously to protect.

By conflating the controlling aspect of child protection work with oppression of families, the author deflects from the rights of children for protection and the views of survivors about the impact of abuse and need for justice. In the context of the global industry of child abuse, which includes the illegal organ trade, trafficking, abusive images of children, illegal adoption trade and sexual exploitation, children require protection and the full weight of legal and statutory protocols. It is sad that this aspect of power, business interests and profit making has been omitted from this book, which places little focus on the crucial role of the police. The social media are now adding their skills to investigation and, as one example, the website spotlightonabuse.wordpress.com is cataloguing the history of child sex abuse networks, the extent to which investigation was blocked and those reporting the abuse often discredited. Given the recent exposure of child abuse networks involving cover-ups at the highest levels, it is surprising that the views of survivors and whistleblowers were not central to this book.