Children and their families

The book, ‘Children and their Families: Contact, Rights and Welfare,’ was written by Professor Martin Richards and Bridget Lindley from the Centre for Family Research, Dr Andrew Bainham from the Faculty of Law, and Dr Liz Trinder from the School of Social Work and Psychosocial Sciences at the University of East Anglia.

Based on the latest research and a penetrating socio-legal analysis, the book examines how family relationships are sustained after divorce, adoption or when children are taken into care. It assesses the role of the law in asserting or facilitating family relationships and the balance to be given to parents and children’s rights.

The book takes a radical new look at longstanding problems and disputes about what happens when family relationships are disrupted and unravel. In particular, the book reports strong evidence that, except in rare cases where it may be harmful, children fare best by maintaining their relationships with both parents and their extended families in all family circumstances. This begs the question of whether the legal system is doing enough to support those relationships, whether after parental separation or in other circumstances that lead to children living away from their parents/families.

The book also tackles head on the debate about how much weight should be placed on the rights of the different parties when there are competing interests. It does not espouse any particular stance or ideology but instead explores the arguments in depth on all sides.

The editors invited Bob Geldof to join the project to include a personal account from a parent about the reality of being apart from your children.