ABSTRACT
Over the last twenty years there has been a growing literature and research that attempts to compare child protection systems in different countries. The central purpose of this chapter is to consider why this interest has come about and what the main findings have been. What will become evident is that this literature is based almost exclusively on comparisons of child protection systems in North America, Scandinavia and Northern Europe, together with analyses of systems in Australia and New Zealand – what I will call ‘advanced societies’. Much of the research and writing is subject to both analytic and normative influences, for while there has been a clear attempt to identify different approaches and orientations in order to try and compare systems and services in different countries, most writers are fairly clear which approach they feel is most appropriate.
