'Risky lives': risk and protection for children growing up in poverty

Child protection has focused on responding to interpersonal violence and abuse. This approach can detach children from the broader socio-economic and political structures which shape their life chances, by concentrating on the symptoms of risk rather than the underlying causes. Drawing on the Young Lives study of childhood poverty, this paper argues that poverty and inequalities are at the heart of childhood risk, shaping which children are at risk and access to sources of protection and therefore to children’s life chances. In order to protect children better, the child protection field needs to engage with the structured nature of risk.Copyright 2012 Taylor & Francis. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Development in Practice on 6/06/2012, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09614524.2012.672953#.U6w-X_ldVHU Published details: Pells, Kirrily (2012)“‘Risky lives’: risk and protection for children growing up in poverty”, Development in Practice 22 (4): 562-673. DOI: 10.1080/09614524.2012.672953 The article is reproduced in accordance with the self-archiving policies of Taylor & Francis Group