"I'd die without my Blackberry" - one young person's comment sums up a generation of young people who are increasingly living their daily lives through their phones and the internet. Cyberbullying is rife, affecting one in five 10-19 year olds. It causes anxiety, unhappiness and mental health problems; in extreme cases even leading to suicide. This book provides a compelling and up to date account of the constantly evolving problem of cyberbullying: the different forms it can take, how the impact differs on boys and girls of different ages, and which children are most vulnerable. Drawing on the findings of the author's survey of over 9,000 children and teenagers, Cyberbullying and E-safety provides a revealing account of the direct experiences and views of children. It describes how a new world where emerging technologies such as smartphones have transformed online social behaviour requires a new, more relevant approach to e-safety and the problem of cyberbullying. The author provides this in the form of a youth-led, age- and gender-appropriate model for cyber-education in the modern world; a 3-tier model comprising universal e-safety education accompanied by targeted and intensive support and advice for children at most risk. She also outlines a school-wide model for preventing and responding to cyberbullying in children, young people and teachers, and provides a wealth of guidance and tools for individuals and schools including templates and lesson plans. Cyberbullying and E-safety is required reading for teachers, counsellors, youth workers, social workers, and other professionals working with children and young people.

Child Health Services Research offers a practical introduction to the foundations, primary methods, and applications of children's health services research. This valuable resource describes various approaches to children's health services research, shows how these approaches differ from methods used in relation to adult health, and demonstrates the value that can be added by outcomes research. In doing so, Child Health Services Research also examines various aspects of child health in the context of the household, hospital, health system, community, and policy arenas.

This comprehensive resource is designed for training those who work with, parent and care for children and young people who have experienced the damaging effects of abuse, neglect and disruption to the primary caregiver relationship. Presented as an 11-session group programme, the pack offers an accessible overview of the core concepts of developmental trauma, trauma-informed therapeutic care, and self-care for carers. Reading materials, video clips and skills exercises support and reinforce each area covered. The underpinning model is Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP), an approach which allows carers to get beyond the defences and blocked trust of children in their care using Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity and Empathy (pACE). By helping participants understand and respond to the impact of developmental trauma on children, the resource aims to help reduce the spiral of failed relationships suffered by many young people who have been removed from their birth families.

Freedoms Flowers is a book about the effects of domestic abuse on children. It is composed of firsthand accounts from these children and their mothers. Some of the children write as adults from memory and some are male. The youngest contributor is eight years old. Their stories describe not only the abuse from the perpetrators but the dreadful collusion from the so called professionals who should have been protecting the victims instead of worsening the effects of the abuse. This book should be read by every teacher, social worker, solicitor, judge and member of the medical profession who comes in to contact with any aspect of domestic abuse. It should be read by every woman who is staying with an abuser for the sake of the children. Every woman whose children wet the bed, throw tantrums and attack other children should read this. Every woman whose children have been taken into care should also read this. The book also sends a strong message about hope. The contributors describe how their lives were saved when they attended the Freedom Programme. They did not need therapy or threats to save their children from abuse. They only needed information to enable them to make informed decisions. Knowledge is power

Global support for improving child welfare and upholding the rights of children is strong, but in practice often fails to recognise the emerging gap between traditional child welfare practices and the evolving nature of child vulnerability. This book takes an international perspective on child welfare, examining how global and national frameworks can be adapted to address the rights and best interests of children. Synthesising the latest international research, experts redefine the concept of a 'child in need' in a world where global movement is common and children are frequently involved in the law. The book considers children as citizens, as refugees, victims of trafficking, soldiers, or members of indigenous groups and identifies the political and cultural changes that need to take place in order to deliver rights for these children. Focusing in particular on child protection systems across nations, it identifies areas of child welfare and family law which systematically fail to look after the best interests of children, often through prejudice, outdated practice, or even the failure of agencies to work together. Exploring the nexus between children's rights and the law across the globe, this book makes essential reading for policymakers, social workers, lawyers, researchers and professionals involved in protecting vulnerable children.

Reclaiming Social Work (RSW) is a radical new system for delivering child and family social work in the UK. The system was first piloted in the London Borough of Hackney and the model has gained national recognition. At the heart of this innovative system is the endeavour to keep children together with their families. This book sets out what the Reclaiming Social Work model is, how it was implemented, and how it works. It explains the RSW system of social work 'units' made up of clinicians and therapists and headed by a consultant social worker, and demonstrates how it has worked in practice. The evidence base and theories underlying the model are also explained. Several chapters are written by consultant social workers with extensive experience of working within RSW, which outline the methodological approaches used. This book on a pioneering new social work model will be of great interest to social work managers, policymakers and academics.

Fostering is vitally important: the majority of looked after children are fostered, yet these children are often left out of the agenda and their voices are not heard. This book sets out a child-centred approach to foster care which argues against thinking about children purely from a psychological perspective and instead places children's views, rights and needs at the centre of care. It sets out the theory behind working in partnership with children who are fostered, and discusses children's views about fostering systems and living with foster carers. The book then outlines how to put the theory into practice, offering models, processes and best practice examples. Practical advice is given on establishing effective communication and good working relationships between practitioners, carers and foster children. This insightful book aims to promote better services and outcomes for fostered children, and will be essential reading for social work practitioners and students.

The decision whether or not to reunify a child in care with their birth family is one of the most serious taken by children's services, and often involves considerable risk. This book examines the long-term consequences of this decision for children who entered public care for abuse or neglect. It compares the experiences and progress of children who remained in care or returned to their birth families up to four years after the decision was taken. It covers how the decision is made, the factors taken into account when making it and provides important suggestions for effective decision-making. It compares the progress made by the children in relation to their safety, stability and emotional well-being. The book demonstrates that, contrary to common belief, long-term care can be a positive option for maltreated children. This book provides important messages for reunification policy and practice in relation to maltreated children. It will be essential reading for social work practitioners, researchers and policy makers.

Children have a right enshrined within the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to participate in decisions that affect them, and their participation in social care services can have a positive impact on their own self-esteem and confidence, but also the quality of service and decisions made by the social care professionals working with them. Everyone seems to agree on the idea that children have to be heard, but not on how, where and when they can participate, or the organisational cultures needed to facilitate it. Promoting Children's Rights in Social Work and Social Care addresses these questions. Margaret Bell looks at the reality of children's life experiences, examines the variety of definitions of participation and highlights creative initiatives for children's involvement which have proven successful. Four research studies on children's participation in the UK are presented, which draw on interviews with children aged 6-19 and cover children's views on decision-making and recording processes, their opinions on the social work help they have received, how involved they feel, and the responses of the agencies involved. This book will be essential reading for any social work or social care professional working with children, as well as students and academics in the social work and social care fields. It will also be invaluable to those involved in promoting children's rights and child participation.

Playing with Fire is a structured manual and training programme to help youth and conflict practitioners work with young people caught up in conflict and violence. All aspects of conflict are covered, from the initial igniting spark to the roaring blaze. The manual includes ideas and session plans that can be adapted to the needs of a particular group. Sessions include exercises and activities that explore situations of conflict, develop skills to deal with them, and rehearse techniques for future use. The training section outlines how to deliver the programme, including how to use role-play and work constructively with conflict in the training room. This second edition includes new sessions on working with issues of identity and prejudice and working with wider community issues, as well as new exercises and activities. Appendices include alternative session plans and ideas on games and group work exercises. This is a valuable guide for youth practitioners and all those working with young people who face conflict or violence.

The first book to approach child welfare from a gay- and lesbian-affirming perspective, "Let's Get This Straight" uncovers and challenges the pervasive presence of "heterocentrism" within the social work profession. It draws upon case examples and in-depth interviews to illustrate the degree to which myths and stereotypes about gay and lesbian youth detrimentally affect those most in need of assistance.

Gerald P. Mallon uses an ecological perspective to highlight the five areas of child welfare:

(1) family support / preservation;

(2) protection from abuse and neglect;

(3) adoption services;

(4) out-of-home care services; and

(5) the development of foster and adoptive homes.

He discusses the implications of this ecological perspective for service delivery, the impact of laws and legislation, and the role gay and lesbian professionals can play in these areas to provide unbiased care to lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients.

In Narrating Practice with Children and Adolescents, social workers, sociologists, researchers, and helping professionals share engaging and evocative stories of practice that aim to center the young client's story. Drawing on work with a variety of disadvantaged populations in New York City and around the world, they seek to raise awareness of the diversity of the individual experiences of youth. They make use of a variety of narrative approaches to offer new perspectives on a range of critical health care, mental health, and social issues that shape the lives of children and adolescents. The book considers the narratives we tell about the lives and experiences of children and adolescents and proposes counternarratives that challenge dominant ideas about childhood. Contributors examine the environments and structures that shape the lives of children and youth from an ecological lens. From their stories emerge questions about how those working with young clients might respond to a changing landscape: How do we define and construct childhood? How do poverty and inequality impact children's health and welfare? How is childhood lived at the intersection of race, class, and gender? How can practitioners engage children and adolescents through culturally responsive and democratic processes? Offering new frameworks for reflecting on social work practice, the essays in Narrating Practice with Children and Adolescents also serve as a vehicle for exploration of children's agency and voice.

In spite of society's wish to protect and insulate children from death, the experience of loss is unavoidable and there is surprisingly little guidance on how to help children cope with grief and bereavement. Never Too Young to Know: Death in Children's Lives is the first book to bring together diverse fields of study, offering a practical as well as multifaceted theoretical approach to how children cope with death. Using stories of children's own experiences supported by data from a large research study, Silverman explains the wide range of effects of loss upon children and the challenges they face as they grieve. Silverman presents grief as a normal part of the life cycle which results not only in pain and sadness but also in change and growth. She further explains that children can and do cope effectively with loss and the changes it brings as long as they are taught to understand that death is a part of life and that they will be included appropriately in the family drama. Never Too Young To Know: Death in Children's Lives is divided into three parts. The first section includes an overview and theoretical framework that examines the social, historical, developmental, and familial forces that frame and focus childrens lives as they experience loss. The second section offers a detailed analysis of how children experience mourning different types of death including the death of siblings, parents, and friends, and death due to illness, suicide, accidents, and violence. The final section includes an accessible guide to helping children cope with grief, emphasizing the importance and the necessity of social support as children learn to adapt to their new lives. Never Too Young To Know: Death in Children's Lives is not only ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate students learning about children but it is also useful for courses on death and dying and the family. It is also an invaluable book for mental health practitioners, clergy, school teachers, nurses, pediatricians, as well as the general reader interested in learning how to deal with death in children's lives.

Every year an average of 1000 Tibetan children risk their lives to escape from a system of education that is almost entirely Chinese. This problem, all too often passed over in silence, forces many parents to send their children to India for a traditional Tibetan education. They pay a guide who accompanies the children in groups, for the journey over the Himalayas which is not without risks. What leads parents to expose their children to these risks? How many flee? What is the journey like? What are the psychological consequences? What is life like for those who arrive in India? Do the parents ever see their children again? 'Child Exodus from Tibet' is an informative, readable book with moving testimony, richly illustrated with colour photographs. The author, Birgit van de Wijer, has been engaged with Tibetan issues for years. For this book she spent months collecting information in India and Nepal, where she interviewed dozens of Tibetan children. She is outspoken in denouncing the inhuman conditions of these children; there has been silence for too long.

Effective Mediation

Seasoned mediator Donald Saposnek has revised and updated his classic primer which offers the most current information on issues and procedures concerning child custody mediation and includes important updates on new research and laws. Using metaphors drawn from Aikido, Saposnek's compassionate book offers guidance for developing the essential therapeutic skills and mediation techniques that will help solve difficult problems and create cooperation.

Thomas J. Dishion and Elizabeth A. Stormshak describe their family-centered, ecological approach, which engages children, adolescents, and their families; may be used as a periodic preventive checkup and as a more intensive intervention; and may be delivered in community settings such as schools in order to have the greatest public health impact. The authors demonstrate how they examine psychopathology in children and adolescents in the context of the ecology (families, peer groups, communities, and schools) in which they live. They present their empirically derived approach and illustrate how developmentally and culturally relevant interventions are shaped. An ecological approach works within a health maintenance teamwork. Given individual variation in vulnerability to environmental stress, periodic assessments and interventions are used to prevent, treat, or reduce harm associated with problem behavior and emotional distress. The literature reveals promising findings, in that the highest-risk youth are more likely to respond well to ecologically based interventions.

Reorganized for more effective classroom use, the second edition of Critical Issues in Child Welfare begins with an updated, thorough overview of the challenges currently facing at-risk children and families. A description of the child welfare system highlights issues that are discussed in more detail throughout the book. The text explores protective services, family preservation, foster care and residential care, adoption, services for adolescents, and training and retention of staff. New material highlights the recent discoveries of the impact of early trauma and stress on children's development, and the modifications currently taking place in the child welfare system in response to this new information. The book also examines the critical challenges of poverty and substance abuse, the importance of the community in shaping child welfare services, racial disproportionality in the system, the changing response of the system to LGBT issues, and services to ameliorate the difficulties of youth leaving the system.

This volume culls the most important and provocative research and policy analysis in the child welfare field and is an essential guide for understanding the burgeoning field of children's services.

Children in public care complain that they have too many placements. Professionals agree but little is known about the reasons for this instability or how it affects different groups of children. The Pursuit of Permanence explores this core issue for children's services. Based on the largest study of the English care system in recent years, the book examines the children (what they need and what they want), their movements into, out of and within the care system, the nature and quality of their placements and the outcomes (whether the children are settled or happy). It analyses the reasons for movements and outcomes in different groups of children, and the relative impacts of the departments, social work teams and placements. It concludes with suggestions about how the care system should work, what it should offer and how it should be managed and inspected. This detailed, innovative and comprehensive study is essential reading for all professionals and academics involved with fostering, leaving care, adoption and children's services, as well as policy makers and students on social work courses.

Family support is an increasingly important strategic approach to welfare services for children and families. This invaluable resource for all professionals engaged in the development and delivery of these services is underpinned by reflective practice values and structured around four themes: * conceptual frameworks and vocabulary (defining) * policy and organisational structures and processing (planning) * tools for creative practice (doing) * approaches to evaluation (measuring). Contributors from around the world provide international perspectives on core issues in family support. These include the importance of community, the role of statutory and voluntary agencies, youth advocacy, culturally appropriate family support, child protection, disability services and effective means of evaluation. Providing a combination of clear theoretical frameworks and practical guidance, with clear 'how to' messages and a strong emphasis on evaluation, this book will be of interest to social workers, care staff, teachers, community development and police officers, students, policy-makers, evaluators and all those working in all areas of family support.

This clear and practical workbook shows the importance of encouraging resilience in pre-school children who live in challenging circumstances. Focusing on assessment of need, Brigid Daniel and Sally Wassell show how to evaluate resilience using checklists and background information. They explain that children in their early years gain resilience from a range of experiences, including attachment relationships, opportunities to develop self-esteem and learning to understand others and behaving in a positive way towards them. With this in mind, they set out ways of encouraging pro-social behaviour in young children: involving them in the process of evaluation, giving support to the parent or carer of the child, and using activities to nurture the child's `theory of mind'. Including guidance on ongoing monitoring and supported by case studies from practice, this book is an essential guide to nurturing resilience for all those who work with young children and their families. The workbook stands alone but also forms part of a set along with two other resilience resources on The School Years and Adolescence. The complete set can be bought together at a reduced price.

This practical book looks at the experiences of children in need who live in state care and the social worker's role in working with them. This is a popular guide to this complex and demanding area of practice. There are chapters on communication and children's rights, life story work, attachment and culture, ethnicity and faith. Throughout the book there are sections on supporting legislation and policy for children in residential care, foster care, adoption and leaving care. Key features include: Practical links between theory and practice Includes law and policy relevant to looked-after children Information on understanding statistics Contains lots of practical activities

A groundbreaking account of how the welfare state began with early nineteenth-century child labor laws, and how middle-class and elite reformers made it happen The beginnings of the modern welfare state are often traced to the late nineteenth-century labor movement and to policymakers' efforts to appeal to working-class voters. But in Agents of Reform, Elisabeth Anderson shows that the regulatory welfare state began a half century earlier, in the 1830s, with the passage of the first child labor laws. Agents of Reform tells the story of how middle-class and elite reformers in Europe and the United States defined child labor as a threat to social order, and took the lead in bringing regulatory welfare into being. They built alliances to maneuver around powerful political blocks and instituted pathbreaking new employment protections. Later in the century, now with the help of organized labor, they created factory inspectorates to strengthen and routinize the state's capacity to intervene in industrial working conditions. Agents of Reform compares seven in-depth case studies of key policy episodes in Germany, France, Belgium, Massachusetts, and Illinois. Foregrounding the agency of individual reformers, it challenges existing explanations of welfare state development and advances a new pragmatist field theory of institutional change. In doing so, it moves beyond standard narratives of interests and institutions toward an integrated understanding of how these interact with political actors' ideas and coalition-building strategies.

The Social Worker's Guide to Child and Adolescent Mental Health provides a comprehensive guide to working with children and young people who are experiencing mental health problems, and equips the reader with the knowledge and skills to provide the best service to these vulnerable young people. The first part of the book considers what role social work can play in child and adolescent mental health, and explores key ideas related to mental health and young people, including attachment issues, children's emotional development and common and complex mental health problems. The author then covers how social work skills and methods can be applied to working with children and young people with mental health problems, including guidance on assessment tools, intervention, and multi-disciplinary working. The final section focuses on the wider context, such as legislative and policy frameworks and the importance of considering cultural, spiritual and religious identity. Case examples, reflective activities and practical exercises are included to underpin theory and knowledge. This book will be essential reading for all pre- and post-qualifying social work practitioners involved with children, adolescents and families, in particular those working in mental health settings, as well as approved mental health professionals.