Responsibility, Law and the Family

Jo Bridgeman, Heather Keating and Craig Lind are Senior Lecturers in Law in the Sussex Law School. Jo Bridgeman's research employs feminist legal theory to analyse the law relating to care of children. Heather Keating's research focuses upon the criminal law relating to children both as offenders and victims. Craig Lind's research interests are in the areas of gender and sexuality, children in law, and family regulation across cultural divides.

'This book makes a significant contribution to the theoretical understanding of family responsibility, a subject that was under-theoried until recently, as several of the chapters in this volume point out. The book scrutinises the diverse concepts of "family", "law" and "responsibility" from a helpfully wide array of perspectives.' Helen Reece, Birkbeck College, UK 'This excellent collection of essays, drawn from a range of disciplines and perspectives, provides a thorough and thought-provoking consideration of the relationship between the concept of responsibility and family law, and will be a valuable addition to our understanding of families and the role of the state.' Gillian Douglas, Cardiff University, UK

• Chapter 1 Introduction: Conceptualising Family Responsibility, Jo Bridgeman, Heather Keating; Part 1 The Nature of Family Responsibility; Chapter 2 The Right to Responsible Parents, Michael Freeman; Chapter 3 Together Forever? The Rights and Responsibilities of Adult Children and their Parents, Jonathan Herring; Chapter 4 Being a Responsible Mother: New Labour Policy Discourses versus Lone Mothers’ Contextualised Accounts, Harriet Churchill; Chapter 5 Overview, John Williams; Part 2 Constructions of Children’s Responsibilities; Chapter 6 Responsible Children and Children’s Responsibilities? Sibling Caretaking and Babysitting by School-age Children, Virginia Morrow; Chapter 7 Being Responsible, Becoming Responsible and Having Responsibility Thrust upon Them: Constructing the ‘Responsibility’ of Children and Parents, Heather Keating; Chapter 8 Responsibility, Children and Childhood, Adrian James; Part 3 Shifting Conceptions of Family Responsibilities; Chapter 9 Engaging Fathers? Responsibility, Law and the ‘Problem of Fatherhood’, Richard Collier; Chapter 10 Responsible Fathers: Paternity, the Blood Tie and Family Responsibility, Craig Lind; Chapter 11 Being Responsible: ‘Good’ Parents and Children’s Autonomy, Wade Amanda; Part 4 Family, Responsibility and the Law; Chapter 12 Parental Responsibility, Responsible Parenting and Legal Regulation, Bridgeman Jo; Chapter 13 Family Law and Family Responsibility, Alison Diduck; Chapter 14 Conclusion: Regulating for Responsibility in an Age of Complex Families, Craig Lind;