This volume brings together some of the best journal articles of the last twenty years which deal with various aspects of the relationship between parents and children. Adopting an inter-disciplinary and comparative approach, the book reproduces articles from a variety of journals in law and the social sciences. The book is divided into eight parts dealing, respectively, with becoming a parent; the status and obligations of parenthood; issues of upbringing; adolescence; child support; parental separation, divorce and children; child abuse and state intervention; social parenthood and adoption. The volume includes a substantial introduction by the editor.

This book is concerned with the regulation of family relationships,in particular the issue of openness and contact in the many different family situations in which it may arise. The shift towards a presumption of contact, and its articulation within diverse fields of family law and practice raises a whole series of questions which this book seeks to explore. For example: Why has the contact presumption emerged? What is meant by contact, and with whom. What is the value and purpose of it? What makes it work or not work? What is the role of law and other forms of external intervention in promoting, regulating or facilitating contact and to what extent should 'familial' relationships be subject to state regulation? More broadly, what can we infer about current conceptualisations of family, parenting (and the relative importance of social and biological parenthood) and childhood from policy and practice towards contact? These and other questions were explored in a series of seminars organised by the Cambridge Socio-Legal Group in 2002. The book is the product of these seminars. Andrew Bainham, Belinda Brooks-Gordon, Ann Buchanan, Shelley Day Sclater, Judy Dunn, John Eekelaar, Bob Geldof, Jonathan Herring, Claire Hughes, Joan Hunt, Adrian James, Julie Jessop, Felicity Kaganas, Bridget Lindley, Mavis Maclean, Joanna Miles, Katrin Mueller-Johnson, Elsbeth Neil, Jan Pryor, Martin Richards, Bob Simpson, Donna Smith, Liz Trinder

This collection of essays is the product of a series of seminars held at the University of Cambridge in 1998 under the auspices of the newly formed Cambridge Socio-Legal Group. The book presents an interdisciplinary exploration of the nature of parenthood and its various manifestations in contemporary society. It is divided into three sections dealing respectively with defining parenthood,new issues in contemporary parenting and parenting post-divorce. Each contributor addresses the central question 'What is a Parent?' from the perspective of his or her own discipline, thus bringing together ideas about parents derived from law, sociology, psychology, biology and criminology. Despite the familiar and apparently obvious answer to this question the notion of 'parent' emerges from the analysis as a contested concept. Definitions are various and fluid, parenting practices are by no means fixed, and ideologies which frame who parents are and what they do are subject to disruptions from several quarters. In short, the essays in this book show the ways in which 'parent' like 'child' is a term with a shifting meaning and 'parenthood' refers to a fluid set of social practices which are historically and culturally situated. Contributors: Andrew Bainham, Carol Brayne, Stuart Bridge, Rachel Cook, Shelley Day Sclater, Margaret Ely, Loraine Gelsthorpe, Susan Golombok, Jack Goody, Jonathan Herring, Felicia Huppert, Allison James, Martin Johnson, Bridget Lindley, Mavis Maclean, Juliet Mitchell, Ros Pickford, Martin Richards, Wendy Solomou, Candida Yates.

Despite the advent of new sexual knowledges,new perspectives, new experiences even, we do not routinely or habitually reflect on the interface of social and legal dimensions of sexuality. Rather, the law is periodically reviewed in response to some crisis or campaign. The idea for the book thus came from awareness that it is important to explore some of the social and moral censures, contours and controversies that shape and mark the boundaries of sexuality. The production of the book has coincided with a major review and new legislation concerning sexual offences, fuelling the authors' concerns and making their explorations timely. Interdisciplinary in scope, drawing in biological, psychological, sociological and historical perspectives to set out the new battlegrounds of sexuality, for instance, but with particular emphasis on socio-legal issues, the book examines the following areas: the development of sexuality and the right to define one's sexuality; genetic maps and sexual politics; sexuality and same sex relationships in law; the law in relation to intersecting oppressions concerning lesbians, gay men and trans people; the sexual abuse of children and the limitations of the law; the contours of regulation concerning young people, 'sexual health', and prostitution; sexual freedoms versus protectionist debates; sexuality, desire and embodied performances in the workplace; sexuality, film and the law, and the law on sexuality in the everyday practice of the Care Standards Tribunal. The book also reviews the recent reform of sexual offences and examines the current vogue for psychological treatment interventions for sexual offenders. This book offers a highly original and exciting new exploration of contemporary socio-legal issues in relation to different sexual positions.

This book,the second produced by the Cambridge Socio-Legal Group, is a collection of essays on the subject of law and the human body. As the title suggests, bodies and body parts are not only subject to regulation through formal legal processes, but also the meanings attached to particular bodies, and the significance accorded to some body parts, are aspects of broader cultural processes. In short, bodies are subjected to both lore and laws. The contributors, all leading academics in the fields of Law, Sociology, Psychology, Feminism, Criminology, Biology and Genetics, respectively, offer a range of interdisciplinary papers that critically examine how bodies are constructed and regulated in law. The book is divided into two parts. Part one is concerned with 'Making Bodies' and includes papers relating to transactions in human gametes, cloning, court-ordered caesarean sections, testing for genetic risk, the patenting of human genes and the social policy implications of the growth in genetic information. Part two is concerned with 'Using and Abusing Bodies'. It contains chapters relating to sexualities, sexual orientation and the law, sex workers and their clients, domestic homicide, religious and cultural practices and other issues involving children's bodies, the ownership of the body and body parts and the legal and ethical issues surrounding euthanasia.

This book,the second produced by the Cambridge Socio-Legal Group, is a collection of essays on the subject of law and the human body. As the title suggests, bodies and body parts are not only subject to regulation through formal legal processes, but also the meanings attached to particular bodies, and the significance accorded to some body parts, are aspects of broader cultural processes. In short, bodies are subjected to both lore and laws. The contributors, all leading academics in the fields of Law, Sociology, Psychology, Feminism, Criminology, Biology and Genetics, respectively, offer a range of interdisciplinary papers that critically examine how bodies are constructed and regulated in law. The book is divided into two parts. Part one is concerned with 'Making Bodies' and includes papers relating to transactions in human gametes, cloning, court-ordered caesarean sections, testing for genetic risk, the patenting of human genes and the social policy implications of the growth in genetic information. Part two is concerned with 'Using and Abusing Bodies'. It contains chapters relating to sexualities, sexual orientation and the law, sex workers and their clients, domestic homicide, religious and cultural practices and other issues involving children's bodies, the ownership of the body and body parts and the legal and ethical issues surrounding euthanasia.

This collection of essays is the product of a series of seminars held at the University of Cambridge in 1998 under the auspices of the newly formed Cambridge Socio-Legal Group. The book presents an interdisciplinary exploration of the nature of parenthood and its various manifestations in contemporary society. It is divided into three sections dealing respectively with defining parenthood,new issues in contemporary parenting and parenting post-divorce. Each contributor addresses the central question 'What is a Parent?' from the perspective of his or her own discipline, thus bringing together ideas about parents derived from law, sociology, psychology, biology and criminology. Despite the familiar and apparently obvious answer to this question the notion of 'parent' emerges from the analysis as a contested concept. Definitions are various and fluid, parenting practices are by no means fixed, and ideologies which frame who parents are and what they do are subject to disruptions from several quarters. In short, the essays in this book show the ways in which 'parent' like 'child' is a term with a shifting meaning and 'parenthood' refers to a fluid set of social practices which are historically and culturally situated. Contributors: Andrew Bainham, Carol Brayne, Stuart Bridge, Rachel Cook, Shelley Day Sclater, Margaret Ely, Loraine Gelsthorpe, Susan Golombok, Jack Goody, Jonathan Herring, Felicia Huppert, Allison James, Martin Johnson, Bridget Lindley, Mavis Maclean, Juliet Mitchell, Ros Pickford, Martin Richards, Wendy Solomou, Candida Yates.