NIGEL THOMAS is a Senior Lecturer in Childhood 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 Robert Sanders) and On the Move Again: What Works in Creating Stability for Looked After Children (with Sonia Jackson).

• 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