This book investigates how state and social institutions in Britain between 1800 and 1945 utilized the policing of gender, class, and family structures to regulate the behavior of children and adolescents. Linda Mahood, a scholar in social history, examines the historical evolution of child-saving movements and the moral regulation of the working class. By analyzing institutional records and social policy, she argues that the construction of the 'dangerous child' served as a mechanism for maintaining social order and enforcing normative gender roles. The text provides a framework for understanding how historical anxieties regarding sexuality and delinquency shaped the development of modern social welfare systems.

Scholars and students of modern British history frequently cite this work as a foundational text for understanding the intersection of social control and family policy. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which provides a rigorous examination of historical institutional practices.