This article compares the professional features of social work in ten countries. It is based on detailed descriptions of the professional features of social work in Chile, Germany, Hungary, India, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the USA. Social work in these countries is discussed in terms of eight features, chosen as marks of a profession on the basis of the ‘attributes’ and ‘power’ approaches to professionalisation: public recognition, monopoly over types of work, professional autonomy, the knowledge base, the professional education, the professional organisations, the existence of codified ethical standards and, lastly, the prestige and remuneration of social work.

This paper explores the ideas of culture and ethnicity in the context of child abuse in the United Kingdom as they are discussed in the literature relating to child protection. The culturally determined nature of some of the key concepts and terms used in child protection work is also discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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PurposeThis paper seeks to explore three key aspects of the education of children in care: the composition of that population of children and the extent to which they differ from the general population of children due to difficulties most of them have experienced prior to as well as after entering care; issues relating to the identification of causal relationships and the extent of “underachievement” by children in care; and any evidence that care may provide more positive opportunities than is often supposed.Design/methodology/approachThe paper's approach is an extensive literature review of existing published research into social policy and practice of caring for looked after children.FindingsThe significant factors that contribute to better achievement for children in care are: placement stability and support at school but for some children therapeutic help and specialist assessments are necessary to improve outcomes. Different analyses produce different results and the scrutiny of children's trajectories indicates better outcomes than one‐off comparisons with children not in care.Originality/valueExtensive research has established that children in care achieve less educationally than their peers not in care, but does not explain why. This paper helps to fill this gap.

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