Badparenting is so often blamed for Britain's 'broken society', manifesting insites as diverse as the government reaction to the riots of 2011, popular'entertainment' like Supernanny and the discussion boards of Mumsnet.

Thisbook examines how these pathologising ideas of failing, chaotic anddysfunctional families are manufactured across media, policy and public debateand how they create a powerful consensus that Britain is in the grip of a'parent crisis'.