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The imperatives of safeguarding and/or protecting the younger generation are inherent within society, which is reflected in the various policy initiatives that have shaped services in recent years. As such, who is trusted with the task of safeguarding the lives of children and young people from risk and harm is an important and highly contentious issue for both employers and practitioners alike. This module will consider the numerous changes to safeguarding and protection over the years as well as recognising the significance of individual needs, potential risks and vulnerability, and the centrality of effective inter-agency support and information sharing. Students will also engage in contemporary debates in order that they may evaluate the effects of such practices not only on the lives of children, young people and families, but those who work with them on a daily basis. The aims of the module are to: • provide a critical overview of the concepts of ‘risk’, ‘trust’ and ‘safeguarding’; • analyse the ways in which social and philosophical ideas have changed the way in which issues of risk, trust and safeguarding are viewed today; • invite critical reflection on interventions to reduce risk within policy and practice; • enable students to assess policies aimed at safeguarding children and young people through exposure to a variety of agency resources and documentation; • introduce an international perspective of ‘risk’ as a worldwide agenda.