This accessibly written textbook explores how our increasing knowledge of neuroscience and advances in methods of investigation is changing our understanding of child development. Packed full of images, case studies, reflection points, further reading suggestions and a full glossary of technical terms, it examines key aspects of development such as emotion, memory, learning, perception and language, as well as neurodevelopmental disorders. It is designed to introduce undergraduate students on social science courses to the science behind the brain, looking at how it is structured and how it develops from a tiny cluster of cells into a complex dynamic structure that controls every aspect of our very existence.

This edited volume contains contributions from leading researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and advocates in adoption policy and practice. Topics covered include adoption advocacy, race and adoption, placement of older and disabled children, adoption disruption, adoptive parent recruitment, and policy related to federal adoption subsidy support.

This collection brings together leading researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and advocates in the area of adoption policy and practice. All chapter contributors are nationally recognized leaders in their particular fields of expertise. Several have been instrumental in shaping public policy and legislation on behalf of special needs children and their families.

Chapters cover the following topics: advocacy on behalf of special needs children, racial issues in the placement and adoption of special needs children, issues involved in the adoption of older and disabled children, adoption disruption, recruitment of adoptive parents for special needs children, and federal and state policy related to adoption subsidy support. The volume covers the key issues related to both practice and policy in child welfare. As such it is essential reading for professionals and policy makers in social/human services and child welfare. Scholars and other researchers in the field will also find the collection invaluable.

Residential child care is a crucial, though relatively neglected area of social work. And yet, revelations of abuse and questions of effectiveness have led to increasingly regulatory and procedural approaches to practice and heightened political and professional interest. This book provides a broad and critical look at policy and practice and the ideas that have shaped the development of the sector, emphasising the possibilities for good residential care to enhance the lives of children. The book sets present day provision within historical, policy and organisational context, and discusses a range of practice issues. The importance of the personal relationship in helping children to grow and develop is highlighted.The author applies a critical gaze to attempts to improve practice through regulation and, fundamentally, challenges how residential child care is conceptualised, arguing that it needs to move beyond dominant discourses of protection and rights to embrace those of care and upbringing. Other traditions of practice such as the European concept of social pedagogy are also explored to more accurately reflect the task of residential child care. The book will be of interest to practitioners in residential child care, social workers and students on social work and social care courses. It should be required reading for social work managers and will also be of interest to policy makers and students of social policy, education and childhood studies.

This book brings together a range of theoretical and empirical perspectives on conceptualization, measurement, multidimensional impacts and policy and service responses to address child and family poverty. It illuminates issues and trends through country level chapters, thus shedding light on dynamics of poverty in different jurisdictions. The book is structured into three sections: The first includes introductory chapters canvassing key debates around definition, conceptualization, measurement and theoretical and ideological positions. The second section covers impacts of poverty on specific domains of children's and families' experience using snapshots from specific countries/geographic regions. The third section focuses on programs, policies and interventions and addresses poverty and its impacts. It showcases specific interventions, programs and policies aimed at responding to children and families and communities and how they are or might be evaluated. Cross national case studies and evaluations illustrate the diversity of approaches and outcomes.

'One of the non-fiction books of the year.' Andrew O' Hagan A powerful, evocative and deeply personal journey into the world of missing people When Francisco Garcia was just seven years old, his father, Christobal, left his family. Unemployed, addicted to drink and drugs, and adrift in life, Christobal decided he would rather disappear altogether than carry on dealing with the problems in front of him. So that's what he did, leaving his young wife and child in the dead of night. He has been missing ever since. Twenty years on, Francisco is ready to take up the search for answers. Why did this happen and how could it be possible? Where might his father have gone? And is there any reason to hope for a happy reunion? During his journey, which takes him all across Britain and back to his father's homeland of Spain, Francisco tells the stories of those he meets along the way: the police investigators; the charity employees and volunteers; the once missing and those perilously at risk around us; the families, friends and all those left behind. If You Were There is the moving and affecting story of one man's search for his lost family, an urgent document of where we are now and a powerful, timeless reminder of our responsibility to others.

'No matter how bad things are, Molloy tells those afflicted by neglect, there is always hope. And with hope, there is the possibility to heal and to build a new and better kind of life' Lancashire Evening Post Following on from her previous bestselling books, Hackney Child and Tainted Love, written under the name Hope Daniels, which told the stories of kids in children's homes who fought against the odds in their struggle to survive, Jenny Molloy's book Neglected gives harrowing accounts of what happens when children fall in love with the wrong people, and how the role of social workers in their lives can bring them back to an understanding of what love really means. Readers will be introduced to several brave and inspirational children: Jemma, taken into care after her father tried to kill her; Angelika, abandoned by her mother, ending up in a criminal gang; Emma, whose life spiralled out of control after her mother's sudden death. Neglected explores these stories and more, ultimately aiming to answer the question: how can the circle of neglect be broken? Praise for Hope Daniels' other books 'Raw and absorbing' Grazia 'Refreshingly honest ... It will touch your heart' UK Fostering

In this collection of essays by leading experts, day care is profiled as a diversified and complex developmental setting. Collectively, the papers challenge the common assumption that day care settings are easily comparable. Instead, various types of day care environments are examined from a multilayered perspective and their diverse characteristcs are empirically documented.

In the Revised 2nd Edition of The Original S.T.A.R.S Guidebook, added information is incorporated about sexual orientation, gender identity, cultural diversity, cyber security and new resources. Otherwise, both editions have the same focus and goals for teaching sexuality education. Specially designed for teaching adolescents and adults with a broad range of disabilities, the STARS model in both editions has a focus on four areas: Understanding Relationships, Social Interaction, Sexual Awareness and Assertiveness. The goals of the guidebooks are to promote positive sexuality and preventing sexual abuse. Assessment tools in the guidebooks can be used to identify the strengths and needs of each individual and the activities can be catered to address specific needs.

The current system of protecting society's children from abuse is failing miserably. In this volume, scholars affiliated with universities and professional associations nationwide pinpoint a better strategy. Their research spotlights neighborhood-based child protection systems and provides a comprehensive approach for creating procedures that meaningfully address child maltreatment.

The volume discusses the challenges of moving toward such a system within the current legal, political, and cross-cultural contexts of child protection. Examples of promising applications of a community-based approach are cited. Also cited are the legal and practical structural steps to be taken in creating caring communities that effectively address child abuse and neglect.

Leading researchers examine child poverty in industrialized countries--the United States, UK, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Hungary, and Russia--in this major new study. Issues addressed are: definition and measurement in the dynamic analysis of child poverty; cross-national comparisons of child poverty rates and trends; cross-national comparisons of children's movements into and out of poverty; country-specific studies of child poverty dynamics; and the policy implications of taking a dynamic perspective. This unique study, with its cross-national and dynamic analysis of child poverty, will interest academics, international organizations, governments and their advisors.

"This book is the best this practitioner has seen for its practical definitions and concrete suggestions. At the same time, it reviews what research there is and notes the many areas in need of further study. . . . The controversial use of hypnosis for the recovery of repressed memories and gender differences in reaction to abuse are particularly well covered. I recommend this book for all practitioners and educators." --Mary J. Coe, review in The American Journal of Family Therapy "I found this both remarkably informative (the book provides an excellent synthesis of current literature on child abuse research) and liberating when thinking about past and present clients. Briere has a special talent for making sense of the internal experience of child abouse survivors. An excellent book which should be on the bookshelf of counsellors or therapists working with adolescents or adults. " --Peter Yeo in Counselling Researchers and clinicians in the child abuse field have tended to specialize in one form of maltreatment, rather than examining the interrelationship between the various types of abuse and neglect. In response to this fragmentation, Child Abuse Trauma offers a fresh perspective that considers unique and overlapping long-term effects of all major forms of child abuse and neglect. From sexual and physical abuse to maltreatment by alcoholic or drug-addicted parents, from the exploration of solutions to the parameters of treatment, this enlightening volume outlines complex ways in which abuse impacts later psychosocial functioning. Briere reframes traditional notions of psychopathology and describes with optimism and compassion treatment approaches to abuse-related posttraumatic stress, interpersonal dysfunction, self-destructive behavior, impaired self-reference, and borderline personality disorder. This thought-provoking and important volume will be an invaluable tool for abuse specialists and general therapists who want to understand the connection between many forms of psychological distress and the lasting impacts of child maltreatment. Students in the fields of psychology, victimology, family studies, gender studies, and sociology will also benefit from this book. "John N. Briere has written an important and eminently readable book. As any clinician can attest, without appropriate intervention, hurt children often grow up to be hurt adults. This book describes a process by which former child victims of maltreatment--adult survivors--can move beyond the trauma and long-term negative sequelae of their experiences. Unlike many professionals, who tend to focus on a specific area of child maltreatment (e.g., adult survivors of sexual abuse, physical abuse), Briere presents a model that clinicians will find useful regardless of the type of maltreatment experienced by the client." --Families in Society "The book is well written and provides a thorough integration of research and theory in the area. It is an excellent reference guide for clinicians and may be useful for scholars in the social sciences as well. The content is compassionate and elucidating as the author sets out to debunk myths surrounding victims of child maltreatment. Briere makes a strong case for therapy centering around survivors' strengths rather than focusing on individual psychopathology. . . . Child Abuse Trauma is an excellent overview of an abuse perspective. Briere is objective and is careful to discuss potential drawbacks to abuse-oriented therapy." --Contemporary Psychology "This book is, among other things, an excellent reference guide. . . . Dr. Briere's special talent is in making sense of the internal experience of child abuse survivors. He helps us understand that much of what seems pathological is really creative, albeit ultimately dysfunctional strategies for survival." --from the Foreword by Lucy Berliner "Major forms of child abuse, including psychological, physical, and sexual, as well as emotional neglect and living with substance-addicted parents, are covered here. . . . This is an excellent, intense study by an experienced psychotherapist; it alerts clinicians, novices or experienced, to the frequency of child abuse and suggests how it can be understood and treated in later life." --Henry Hicks, Ph.D., Maimonides Community Mental Health Center, Brooklyn, New York "The book is very state-of-the-art. I particularly like the treatment sections that address the issues of co-dependency and hospitalization. I can't say enough about John N. Briere's ability to communicate. The book is concise and yet its scope is amazing. . . . This is a remarkable and brilliant book. . . . I learned a lot from reading it and feel quite energized and stimulated." --Eliana Gil, Ph.D., Private Practice "Briere, a proficient writer, is also a clinical psychologist specializing in psychological trauma, and this book is based on his extensive clinical experience and scholarly research with adult survivors of child abuse. . . . Includes a good reference guide and a combined author-subject index. Graduate; faculty; professional." --Choice "This reviewer found Child Abuse Trauma to be an informed and useful guide to understanding and treating child abuse survivors. A unique aspect of the book is its focus on the broad spectrum of child abuse trauma and the interrelationships among the various forms of abuse and their consequences. . . . Illustrative case examples are utilized throughout the book. The work is indeed a welcomed and helpful pioneering effort in the fledgling field of child abuse-focussed treatment. The significant value of the book makes constructive criticism difficult. . . . A major strength of the book is that Briere manages to be theoretical and scholarly, yet also practical. Clinicians will find enormously valuable this focus on issues and dilemmas which inevitably arise during trauma therapy. For example, the book includes an excellent discussion on when and how to explore abuse-related memories, versus when and how to prepare clients for this work and support them in the work. The section on dealing with self-issues is also particularly elucidating and helpful. . . . The author bravely addresses notions such as 'codependence,' 'resistance,' and borderline personality' and their limited usefulness in abuse-focused treatment. . . . Generalist clinicians occasionally serving abuse survivors will find it illuminates and informs trauma treatment. Clinicians specializing in abuse-focused therapy will discover much of value in this volume, and I would anticipate, find themselves recommending it to supervisees as well as seasoned colleagues." --The Advisor "Briere offers what is known and seems to be working in individual, one-to-one psychotherapy to treat seven major psychological disturbances found in survivors: post traumatic stress, cognitive disorders, altered emotionality dissociation, impaired self-reference, disturbed relatedness, and avoidance." --The Women's Advocate "Child Abuse Trauma has much to offer psychotherapists who treat child abuse survivors. Its strength lies in the attention Briere devotes to a supportive, eclectic, and multimodal psychotherapeutic approach, and his ability to demonstrate the interrelations between child maltreatment and adult psychopathology. . . . Briere successfully illustrates that trauma during childhood engenders effects that persist into adulthood, and that traditional psychotherapy must be reframed to deal better with the complex nature of child abuse." --Family Relations ABOUT THE SERIES: "A project with an exciting blend of scholarship and practical expertise." --David Finkelhor, University of New Hampshire

The landmark National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW) study represents the first effort to gather nationally representative data, based on first-hand reports, about the well-being of children and families who encounter the child welfare system. NSCAW's findings offer an unprecedented national source of data that describe the developmental status and functional characteristics of children who come to the attention of child protective services. Much more than a simple history of placements or length of stay in foster care, NSCAW data chart the trajectory of families across service pathways for a multi-dimensional view of their specific needs. The NSCAW survey is longitudinal, contains direct assessments and reports about each child from multiple sources, and is designed to address questions of relations among children's characteristics and experiences, their development, their pathways through the child welfare service system, their service needs, their service receipt, and, ultimately, their well-being over time.
The chapters in this rich synthesis of NSCAW data represent thoughtful and increasingly sophisticated approaches to the problems highlighted in the study and in child welfare research in general. The authors capitalize on the longitudinal, multidimensional data to capture the experiences of children and families from the time they are investigated by CPS though multiple follow-up points, and to consider the interdependent nature of the traditional child welfare outcomes of safety, permanence, and well-being. The topics covered not only are critical to child welfare practice and policy, but also are of compelling interest to other child service sectors such as health, mental health, education, and juvenile justice. The authors of chapters in this volume are esteemed researchers within psychology, social work, economics, and public health. Together they represent the future of child welfare research, showcasing the potential of NSCAW as a valuable resource to the research community and providing glimpses of how the data can be used to inform practice and policy.

Children and families are at the heart of social work all over the world, but, until now Nordic perspectives have been rare in the body of English-language child welfare literature. Is there something that makes child welfare ideas and practices that are in use in the Nordic countries characteristically 'Nordic'? If so, what kinds of challenges do the current globalization trends pose for Nordic child welfare practices, especially for social work with children and families? Covering a broad range of child welfare issues, this edited collection provides examples of Nordic approaches to child welfare, looking at differences between Nordic states as well as the similarities. It considers, and critically examines, the particular features of the Nordic welfare model - including universal social care services that are available to all citizens and family policies that promote equality and individuality - as a particular resource for social work with children and families. Drawing on contemporary research and debates from different Nordic countries, the book examines how social work and child welfare politics are produced and challenged as both global and local ideas and practices. Social work and child welfare politics is aimed at academics and researchers in social work, childhood studies, children's policy and social policy, as well as social work practitioners, policy-makers and service providers, all over the world who are interested in Nordic experiences of providing care and welfare for families with children.

For centuries, residential child and youth care systems worldwide have provided homes for vulnerable children and adolescents. The implementation of children's rights, especially the right of participation, is assessed as an important base for promoting the best interests of the child in an out-of-home care environment. Featuring contributions from distinguished international authors, this volume offers an in-depth understanding of crucial participation processes and underlying power structures when involving young people in decision-making about their care and everyday life in different out-of-home care institutions. Contributions cover a broad spectrum of current research findings concerning the participation of young people in foster families and residential living groups in Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland as well as cross-nationals perspective on children and young people's participation in foster and residential care placements in Great Britain and France. The volume fills major gaps concerning the participation of young people in different out-of-home care and policy settings and will be required reading for policymakers, researchers, practitioners, scholars, and students interested in increasing opportunities for young people's participation and creating better out-of-home care settings for vulnerable young people.

The second edition of Children s Testimony is a fully up-to-date resource for practitioners and researchers working in forensic contexts and concerned with children's ability to provide reliable testimony about abuse. * Written for both practitioners and researchers working in forensic contexts, including investigative interviewers, police officers, lawyers, judges, expert witnesses, and social workers * Explores a range of issues involved with children's testimony and their ability to provide reliable testimony about experienced or witnessed events, including abuse * Avoids jargon and highly technical language * Includes a comprehensive range of contributions from an international group of practitioners and researchers to ensure topicality and relevance

Provides social work students (undergraduate or graduate level) with 50 compelling case examples categorized by maltreatment type(s) and by underlying problems, with intervention plans along with tips for building working alliances with clients. Emphasizes growing the working alliance between social worker and client, reflecting the strength perspective emphasized in social work practice. Suitable for course usage on both BSW and MSW on the following modules: child welfare services; family preservation services; evidence-based practice; and human behavior in the social environment.

This edited volume examines child exploitation in the Global South. It introduces several case studies and interviews articulated around two features: exploitation within the family and exploitation in relation to social contexts. The research shows that both of the features are linked and, generally, they are not separate. It makes several important arguments which challenge the most common view on how children are perceived and exploited in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. Additionally, it explores the social representation of exploited children as well as their general well-being.

This is the first book to address the issue of child sexual abuse within a region of the world constructed as a "paradise" in the language of global travel and thus makes a significant contribution to the international literature on the topic. The book follows on the heels of the most recent research into the topic and draws extensively from previously unpublished material. While child sexual abuse occurs in all countries, few books explore the nuanced conceptual, cultural and social behaviours which underpin it. The book is distinctive in that it addresses the limitations of dominant models for child protection that have emerged out of the richer countries of the West and which are often ineffective in the majority world and provides practice and policy examples for transforming child protection in sustainable ways. This edited volume includes contributions from a wide range of disciplines such as psychology, psychotherapy, law, social work, sociology, early childhood education and counselling.

This bookresolves a key problem that all evaluators need to attend to:, i.e., what constructs ought to be measured?, all the while giving them practical ways of doing this. It also presents data showing family court judges like the model, and it does this fairly briefly but in a way that is nicely embedded in the research literature."

This book traces the changing fortunes of radical and critical social work in the U.K., and examines the theory, context and application of such approaches. Radical social work of the 1970s declined as the rise of neoliberalism changed the nature of the welfare state along with what social workers do and how. A looser critical approach developed, although practitioner demoralisation and disillusionment led to the 'second wave' of radical social work in the late 2000s. Despite challenges, critical practice is both necessary and possible in the neoliberal world. Drawing on the author's unique experience, core areas of practice with children and families are covered, including real life case studies, key point summaries and suggestions for further reading. The essential argument is for an emancipatory practice geared to meeting immediate needs, as well as having some vision of a future, more socially just and equal, society. The book will be invaluable to undergraduate and postgraduate social work students, experienced practitioners, educators, managers and policy makers.

This comprehensive reference offers a robust framework for introducing and sustaining trauma-responsive services and culture in child welfare systems. Organized around concepts of safety, permanency, and well-being, chapters describe innovations in child protection, violence prevention, foster care, and adoption services to reduce immediate effects of trauma on children and improve long-term development and maturation. Foundations and interventions for practice include collaborations with families and community entities, cultural competency, trauma-responsive assessment and treatment, promoting trauma-informed parenting, and, when appropriate, working toward reunification of families. The book's chapters on agency culture also address staffing, supervisory, and training issues, planning and implementation, and developing a competent, committed, and sturdy workforce. Among the topics covered: Trauma-informed family engagement with resistant clients. Introducing evidence-based trauma treatment in preventive services. Working with resource parents for trauma-informed foster care. Use of implementation science principles in program development for sustainability. Trauma informed and secondary traumatic stress informed organizational readiness assessments. Caseworker training for trauma practice and building worker resiliency. Trauma Responsive Child Welfare Systems ably assists psychology professionals of varied disciplines, social workers, and mental health professionals applying trauma theory and trauma-informed family engagement to clinical practice and/or research seeking to gain strategies for creating trauma-informed agency practice and agency culture. It also makes a worthwhile text for a child welfare training curriculum.

This book brings together internationally renowned academics and professionals from a variety of disciplines who, in a variety of ways, seek to understand the legal, conceptual and practical consequences of parental imprisonment through a children's rights lens. Children whose parents have been incarcerated are often referred to as "invisible victims of crime and the penal system." It is well accepted that the imprisonment of a parent, even for a short period of time, not only negatively affects the lives of children but it can also result in a gross violation of their fundamental human rights, such as the right of access to their parent and the right to have an input into decision-making processes affecting them, the outcomes of which will without doubt affect the life of the child concerned. This collection foregrounds the voice of these children as it explores transdisciplinary boundaries and examines the practice and development of the rights of both children and their families within the wider dynamic of criminal justice and penology practice. The text is divided into three parts which are dedicated to 1) hearing the voices of children with parents in prison, 2) understanding to what extent children's rights informs prison policy, and 3) demonstrating how law in the form of children's rights can help frame both court sentencing and prison practice in a way that minimises the harm that contact with the prison system can cause. The research drawn upon in this book has been conducted in a number of European countries and demonstrates both good and bad practice as far as the implementation of children's rights is concerned in the context of parental incarceration. An accessible and compelling read, this book will appeal to students and scholars of law, children's rights, criminology, sociology, social work, psychology, penology and all those interested in, and working towards, protecting the rights of children who have a parent in prison.

Exam board: CACHE Level: 3 Subject: Early Years and Child Care First teaching: 2015 First exams: Various dates Help your students master the knowledge and skills they need for the new CACHE Level 3 Award, Certificate and Diploma in Childcare & Education (Early Years Educator) Written by experts Carolyn Meggitt and Tina Bruce, this is the only resource for the Level 3 Diploma in Childcare & Education (EYE) endorsed by CACHE. The approachable writing style makes learning key concepts both easy and enjoyable for all learners, and all aspects of the qualification are covered and linked to specific learning outcomes. This book will support your students through their assessment and the start of their careers. - Communicates all the requirements of the new qualification fully with clearly stated learning outcomes and key terms - Shows how concepts are applied in real settings with numerous case studies - 'In Practice' boxes give students the opportunity to check and reflect on their understanding - Includes activity boxes linked to assessment criteria to prepare learners for examinations and assessment

This book presents the latest evidence from Young Lives, a unique international study of children and poverty. It shows how the persistence of inequality amid general economic growth is leaving some extremely poor children behind, despite the promises of the Millennium Development Goals.