Editorial

Abstract

In the second issue of 2023, we highlight child and family social work as one of the many domains in which social work as a practice and as an academic research field is active. In talking about child and family social work, the study of interventions in families, ranging from children as young as zero to young adults as old as 18, is central. The idea here is that the family is a social construct that it is coshaped by historical and societal developments. This also means that the family cannot be separated from broader social and political discussions. For example, if we look at the ideas that have shaped early childhood education as part of child and family social work we see that infant mortality, which was very high at the end of the nineteenth century and even exceeded 20%, played an important role. In itself, this was neither surprising nor new at the time. Nevertheless, more attention was suddenly paid to the health of the population, including (young) children. This was not only because of the formation of nationstates and the accompanying need for manpower for the army, among other things, but also because industrialisation ensured a lot of economic prosperity and future workers needed to be safeguarded from illness and mortality. These societal developments (the formation of nation-states and industrialisation) were eventually also invoked as a legitimisation to set up childcare initiatives because child mortality was seen as a problem occurring mainly among the poor. The childcare initiatives established by the bourgeoisie aimed to meet this and would at the same time teach the poor how best to raise their children and prepare them for later life, including labour market participation. The idea of children as future capital came around the corner for the first time here. In this issue, some of these historical and social constructions that shape child and family social work are discussed. In this way, we hope to highlight the importance of historical and societal developments for contemporary discussions and practices in social work. We wish you much reading pleasure and look forward to receiving your contribution in the near future.