NIGEL THOMAS is a Lecturer in Social Work and Child Studies at the University of Wales, Swansea. He was a social work practitioner and manager for more than twenty years in Derbyshire and Oxfordshire. His recent publications include Area Child Protection Committees (with R.Sanders) and On the Move Again: What Works in Creating Stability for Looked After Children (with S.Jackson). AE(00): Consultant Editor: JO CAMPLING

'...a welcome contribution to our understanding of looked-after children's experiences of participation in decision-making. The author's findings contain important messages for social workers, managers and policy makers...essential reading on all courses for those working with look-after children and young people at both undergraduate and post-qualifiying level.' - Jane Boylan, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, Staffordshire University '...a thoughtful book on what sort of role children...should play in decisions about their own lives.' - Contemporary Sociology '...of interest to those in social care...the book is likely to have a wider audience than just the reflexive social worker; it has much to say to all those seeking to make children's participation a more accepted reality...very valuable to those coming fresh to the subject. This is a complex topic that is explored in considerable depth in a very accessible way.' - Ruth Sinclair, Children & Society

• List of Tables and Figures Acknowledgements Introduction Theories of Childhood Psychology of Childhood Rights of Childhood Children, Parents and the State Children Looked After by the State Doing Research with Children Patterns of Participation Children's Views Adults' Views Making Sense of the Research Children's Decisions and Children's Place References Index