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Between “Families in Trouble” and “Children at Risk”: Historicising “Troubled Family” Policy in England since 1945
Author(s) -
Lambert Michael
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
children and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1099-0860
pISSN - 0951-0605
DOI - 10.1111/chso.12309
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , state (computer science) , welfare , period (music) , sociology , welfare state , criminology , political science , history , public administration , economic growth , political economy , law , politics , economics , archaeology , aesthetics , art , computer science , algorithm
The launch of the Troubled Families Programme in 2011 has thrown into sharp relief how governments develop policies and practices to intervene in the lives of so‐called ‘troubled families’. Commentators were quick to make comparisons with historic efforts to rehabilitate ‘problem families’ in the post‐war period. However, beyond discursive similarities, there are also marked continuities in how family policies have been developed and implemented. This review narrates the rise, fall and rise of concern about ‘problem’ and ‘troubled’ families in England in the context of anxieties about child and family welfare, and the appropriate response of the state.