Kinship foster care involves placing children who cannot live at home in foster care with other members of their family or close network. This book sheds light on different aspects of kinship care development and practice. Using a 20-year longitudinal research study from Norway, this book shows the historical development of kinship care in Norway, research on kinship care, and how family life and relations are negotiated and lived in the span between private and public sphere. It includes the perspectives of the children, their parents and their relatives who have functioned as foster parents. Recognising that kinship care is complex, and needs to be understood and studied from different perspectives, the book describes, analyses and discusses a number of subjects: kinship care in a child welfare historical context, families who are part of kinship care and their perspectives, the formal frameworks around kinship care, and research approaches which have dominated research into kinship care. This book will be of interest to all scholars, students and professionals working in social work and child welfare more broadly, both in the Nordic countries and in a wider international context.

Optimal Learning Environments to Promote Student Engagement analyzes the psychological, social, and academic phenomena comprising engagement, framing it as critical to learning and development. Drawing on positive psychology, flow studies, and theories of motivation, the book conceptualizes engagement as a learning experience, explaining how it occurs (or not) and how schools can adapt to maximize it among adolescents. Examples of empirically supported environments promoting engagement are provided, representing alternative high schools, Montessori schools, and extracurricular programs. The book identifies key innovations including community-school partnerships, technology-supported learning, and the potential for engaging learning opportunities during an expanded school day. Among the topics covered: Engagement as a primary framework for understanding educational and motivational outcomes. Measuring the malleability, complexity, multidimensionality, and sources of engagement. The relationship between engagement and achievement. Supporting and challenging: the instructor's role in promoting engagement. Engagement within and beyond core academic subjects. Technological innovations on the engagement horizon. Optimal Learning Environments to Promote Student Engagement is an essential resource for researchers, professionals, and graduate students in child and school psychology; social work; educational psychology; positive psychology; family studies; and teaching/teacher education.

This book offers a conceptual re-think of how university community engagement functions as a lifelong learning resource for communities. While having a specific focus on the South African context, it has important implications for other universities which are concerned with their communities, and makes a compelling argument for the university as a public good, in spite of current trends towards marketization and commodification of higher education. The book draws on a theoretical framework of capabilities, asset-based community development, and the adult learning concept of dialogue, to propose a model whereby the boundary walls of the university become metaphorically 'porous', so that community members feel free to interact with the university as equal members of society. A historical outline of African universities is provided, as well as an exploration of the evolution of terms for community engagement, service learning and learning cities; and an examination of the policy and practice implications for the ideological model of a porous university.

This book provides a unique perspective into the world of supplementary schooling, exploring both the social positioning of these schools and the ethnic minority communities they serve. The author presents a close examination of the establishment and functioning of supplementary schools which offers a fresh and novel insight into acculturation processes. Drawing on empirical data gathered from staff interviews, classroom observations and interactive recordings, this book explores the operation of supplementary schools as sites of identity construction where the community identities are preserved, defended, renegotiated and reconstructed. The various modes of construction are indicative of the acculturation experiences of ethnic minority communities and the ways in which these communities negotiate residence in one country whilst having roots in another. This book therefore offers a revealing conceptualization of supplementary schools, not merely as educational spaces, but socio-political enterprises that are situated within and respond to various historical, social and political contexts. This pioneering work will appeal to students and scholars in the fields of education, migration and identity.

* It explores the validity and effectiveness of secure settings as therapeutic communities (TCs). * Rooted in practice, this book examines the transferability of approaches within international TCs to other forensic settings. * It considers how the environment contributes to effectiveness. * The authors bring together leading clinicians from across the world to offer insight into the impact of gang membership on therapeutic process and the community. * How core creative therapies are integrated. * How the model is applied in international settings and across varied contexts. * Leading clinicians draw on rare reports and papers to explain the therapeutic community model while keeping the diverse contexts within which it is practiced in mind. * The book provides a much-needed global perspective on the diverse role TCs have across forensic services. * This ground-breaking book is valuable reading for forensic and clinical psychologists, counsellors, social workers, and psychiatrists working in secure prison or rehabilitation settings, as well as students in these fields.

This book chronicles key contemporary developments in the social scientific study of various types of male-to-female abuse in rural places and suggests new directions in research, theory, and policy. The main objective of this book is not to simply provide a dry recitation of the extant literature on the abuse of rural women in private places. To be sure, this material is covered, but rural women's experiences of crimes of the powerful like genocidal rape and corporate violence against female employees are also examined. Written by a celebrated expert on the subject, this book considers woman abuse in a broad context, covering forms of violence such as physical and sexual assault, coercive control genocidal rape, abortion bans, forced pregnancy, and corporate forms of violence. It offers a broad research agenda, that examines the multidimensional nature of violence against rural women. Drawing on decades of work in the shelter movement, with activist organizations, and doing government research, DeKeseredy punctuates the book with stories and voices of perpetrators and survivors of abuse. Additionally, what makes this book unique is that it focuses on the plight of rural women around the world and it introduces a modified version of Liz Kelly's original continuum of sexual violence. An accessible and compelling read, this book will appeal to students and scholars of criminology, sociology, women's studies, cultural studies, policing, geography and all those interested in learning about the abuse women face in rural areas. Walter S. DeKeseredy is Anna Deane Carlson Endowed Chair of Social Sciences, Director of the Research Center on Violence, and Professor of Sociology at West Virginia University. He has published 26 books, over 100 refereed journal articles, and 90 scholarly book chapters on issues such as woman abuse, rural criminology, and criminological theory.

Preventing Sexual Harm provides an overview of current criminal justice strategies for tackling sexual violence, and highlights existing positive criminological approaches that could help prevent sexual abuse and harm. Sexual violence is a complex, multi-faceted crime. Its causes and consequences are both multiple and enduring and our understanding of sexual violence is embedded within our social, cultural, and political constructs. As such, a response to sexual violence ought to be equally complex and multi-faceted. Alternative approaches might therefore be needed, such as positive criminology. This book explores positive criminology as a mechanism to reduce the risk of recidivism, eradicate harm, prevent reoffending as well as to help reintegrate those with histories of sexual abuse back into the community. In light of recent historic cases of sexual abuse and poor institutional response to these allegations, it opens with an overview of the current landscape of sexual offending. The book then reviews the current positive criminological approaches already in existence in the effort to prevent sexual abuse by outlining the approach of positive criminology and by demonstrating the many gaps in practice that might benefit from this new way of working to prevent sexual abuse. By highlighting that an alternative response to sexual violence is needed, and by presenting the idea that a positive criminological paradigm is worthy of further examination, this book will be of great interest to scholars of criminology, criminal justice, and forensic psychology.

* Covers an important period of Bowen's life (leading to the development of his theory) which is currently largely unexplored. * Explains not only Bowen's theory, but his research methodology, an approach to gathering observational data and integrating that data into a framework that will guide future practice and research. * Supports the development of a scientific community interested in extending our common understanding of human life. * A truly original book which draws from over twenty years of archival work into Bowen's life and work.

* Covers an important period of Bowen's life (leading to the development of his theory) which is currently largely unexplored. * Explains not only Bowen's theory, but his research methodology, an approach to gathering observational data and integrating that data into a framework that will guide future practice and research. * Supports the development of a scientific community interested in extending our common understanding of human life. * A truly original book which draws from over twenty years of archival work into Bowen's life and work.

This book documents the journey of the survivors of sexual violence as they navigate the gruelling criminal justice and health care systems and the stigma and hostility in their communities in the aftermath of the incident. Through personal narratives of survivors and their family members, the book examines critical gaps in the existing networks of criminal procedure, health, and rehabilitation for survivors of sexual violence and rape. Using qualitative research, it distills the narratives gathered through interviews with survivors and their family members to understand their experiences and offers. The book contributes to the corpus of literature on different forms of violence against women in India with an emphasis on understanding the effectiveness of institutions, both formal and informal, in responding to sexual violence, and offering suggestions for changes in the health and support systems available to them. It documents post-incident interactions of survivors with family, community, the police, courts, lawyers, and hospitals and highlights the impact of rape on physical and mental health, work, relationships, education and housing for survivors and their families. This book will be of interest to those engaged in providing support to survivors of sexual violence as well as students and researchers of social work and social policy, health and social care, law, gender studies, human rights and civil liberties, gender and sexuality, social welfare, and mental health.

1. At present there are no edited books dedicated to understanding and working with individuals with Autism in secure settings. 2. Likely to appeal to a wide audience including psychology, psychiatry, nursing, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, and criminal justice staff. 3. Will be the first of its kind to combine theory, research and practice in the area of ASC and offending. 4. This is a growing area and a much-needed text in this arena.

Provides empirical insights based on research on youth and vulnerability and frontline practices showing theoretical, political as well as practical implications. Uses case-studies from Portugal, Greece, Poland, Czech Republic, Great Britain, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Provides a distinct social work perspective on youth and welfare encounters.

Examines the issue of juvenile life without parole (LWOP) sentences in its entirety and calls attention to both sides of the debate. Suitable for scholars and practitioners interested in a balanced approach to the impact of important Supreme Court decisions and the controversy related to review and resentencing of juvenile lifers. The first book to feature in-depth interviews with juvenile lifers as well as other involved parties, such as prosecutors, politicians, advocates, and victims and their families.

This is the first book that examines healthy human relationships in post-apartheid South Africa. In contemporary South Africa, human relationships are under considerable threat. Despite the 1994 commitment to an inclusive and human-rights-based democracy, human relationships remain strained. Bearing in mind South Africa's tortuous and divisive past, this book brings to light many issues, prospects and challenges with regard to the promotion of healthy human relationships after apartheid ended. Social work and social development perspectives are central to the issues that are raised in this volume. The profession of social work has always championed the centrality of human relationships, being less interested in the internal functioning of people and more interested in their interpersonal functioning within broader structures and forces, including social justice, building people's strengths and capabilities, anti-discrimination, diversity and empowerment. This edited book is based on select papers presented at a social work conference in 2019 that was co-hosted by the Department of Social Development at the University of Cape Town and the Association of South African Social Work Education Institutions. In the chapters, the contributors offer some solutions to the ubiquitous societal ills that emanate from either corrosive or broken human relationships: Resurgent racism in post-apartheid South Africa and the need to promote healthy human relationships Promoting healthy human relationships with sub-Saharan African immigrants and South Africans Promoting family and human relationships in a traumatised society Social policy, social welfare, social security and legislation in promoting healthy human relationships in post-apartheid South Africa Social protection as a tool to promote healthy human relationships in South Africa Promoting Healthy Human Relationships in Post-Apartheid South Africa is an essential resource for an international audience of scholars, policy-makers, and social work and social development practitioners, legislators and students.

This handbook addresses the current state and practice of school psychology with a focus on standards unique to Australia, including historical, legal, ethical, practical, and training factors. It provides a compilation of the most current research-based practices as well as guidelines for evidence-based assessment and intervention for common conditions (e.g., autism, depression, learning disabilities) and for delivering appropriate services to targeted student populations (e.g., LGBT, gifted, medical issues). Chapters discuss the application of national and international school psychology practices within the Australian educational and psychological structure. The handbook also examines the lack of formal resources specific to Australia's culture and psychology systems, with its unique mix of metropolitan cities and the vast geographic landscape that spans regional and remote areas. It offers numerous case studies and innovative school mental health programs as well as recommendations for professional development and advocacy that are unique to Australian school psychology. Topics featured in this Handbook include: Evidence-based assessment and intervention for dyscalculia and mathematical disabilities. Identification and management of adolescent risk-taking behaviors and addictions. Understanding and responding to crisis and trauma in the school setting. Prevention and intervention for bullying in schools. Class and school-wide approaches to addressing behavioral and academic needs. The role of school psychologists in the digital age. Practical advice for school psychologists facing complex ethical dilemmas. The Handbook of Australian School Psychology is a must-have resource for researchers, scientist-practitioners, and graduate students in child and school psychology, social work, and related fields that address mental health services for children and adolescents.

Queer Professionals and Settler Colonialism works to dismantle the perception of an inclusive queer community by considering the ways white lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ2S+) people participate in larger processes of white settler colonialism in Canada. Cameron Greensmith analyses Toronto-based queer service organizations, including health care, social service, and educational initiatives, whose missions and mandates attempt to serve and support all LGBTQ2S+ people. Considering the ways queer service organizations and their politics are tied to the nation state, Greensmith explores how, and under what conditions, non-Indigenous LGBTQ2S+ people participate in the sustainment of white settler colonial conditions that displace, erase, and inflict violence upon Indigenous people and people of colour. Critical of the ways queer organizations deal with race and Indigeneity, Queer Professionals and Settler Colonialism highlights the stories of non-Indigenous LGBTQ2S+ service providers, including volunteers, outreach workers, health care professionals, social workers, and administrators who are doing important work to help, care, and heal. Their stories offer a glimpse into how service providers imagine their work, their roles, and their responsibilities. In doing so, this book considers how queer organizations may better support Indigenous people and people of colour while also working to eliminate the legacy of racism and settler colonialism in Canada.

Introduces social practitioners - a broad definition for those working in the social field, including social workers, community development workers, organisational change facilitators, social, ecological, cultural and political activists - to a phenomenological tradition of social practice. Presents a philosophical, personal and practical book on how to live and work in the social field with a new approach to observation, aliveness and complexity. Relevant to all courses on complexity in social work and human services. Of interest to all social workers, development and social practitioners, community workers, activists, and organizational development facilitators.

This book provides a framework of protest handling which redirects our attention away from the strength of protesters and towards the constraints of state power, drawing on detailed case studies randomly collected in 7 provinces in China over the last decade. It finds that the challenges of retaining legitimacy, the propensity for responsiveness, the contradictions of the petition system, and the dynamics of elite alignments are key elements shaping the fate of nail-like petitions. A nail-like person refers to the individual who looks like a stubborn nail on a plank of wood that cannot be easily hammered down. His persistent protest thus is theoretically puzzling, since such individual-based protest is assumed to be too weak to effectively challenge a powerful authoritarian regime. Although this phenomenon is widely observed in China, it is ignored by current studies on collective action. Meanwhile, this book delves into the life politics of nail-like persons and reveals that their escalation of grievance, marginalized social status, inability of pursuing desirable lives through legitimate means, and communication with fellow petitioners also reinforce their determination of contention. This book describes deeply the fate of individual-based protests in China. It scrutinizes the state's role in shaping contention at its macro, intermediate, and micro levels, and meanwhile pay more attention to local specifics that are crucial to uncovering the logic of petitioners' actions and consciousness. This book has implications for scholars and graduates who are interested in contentious politics and state-society interactions in China.

Provides a rich synthesis of research and theory of nascent and emergent innovative work of social suffering through rich empirical examination of changing welfare structures, regimes and technologies. Synthesises, critiques and expands the boundaries of existing research which has been undertaken from a number of different disciplinary and international perspectives and examines in rich empirical analysis its implications for specific subjectivities. Fills an existing gap within the international literature through focusing upon the Australian case and empirically demonstrate the significance of Australia to identifying and understanding global trends.

Drawing together theoretical ideas from across the social sciences, Classifying Fashion, Fashioning Class examines how the fashion-class association has developed and, using the experiences of middle-and-working class British women, demonstrates how this relationship operates today. Though increasingly academics argue that contemporary class distinctions are made through cultural practices and tastes, few have fully explored just how individual's fashion choices mobilise class and are used in class evaluations. Yet, an individual's everyday dress is perhaps the most immediate marker of taste, and thus an important means of class distinction. This is particularly true for women, as their performances of respectability, femininity and motherhood are embodied by fashion and shaped by class. In unpacking this fashion-class relationship, the book explores how fashion is used by British women to talk about class. It offers important insights into the ways fashion mobilises class differences in understandings of dressing up, performance and public space. It considers how class identity shapes women's attitudes concerning fashion trends and classic styles, and it draws attention to the pivotal role mothers play in cultivating these class distinctions. The book will be of interest to students in sociology, fashion studies, cultural studies, human geography and consumer behaviour.

This book considers how rurality interacts with the mental health and wellbeing of individuals and communities in different regional settings. Through the use of international and comparative case studies, the book offers insight into the spatiality of mental health diagnoses, experiences, services provision and services access between and within rural areas. It is the first book to specifically address rural mental health geographies from an international perspective, and will be of interest to researchers and policymakers in rural studies, regional studies, health geography and rural mental health.

Taking a new and innovative angle on social work, this book seeks to remedy the lack of holistic perspectives currently used in Western social work practice by exploring Indigenous and other culturally diverse understandings and experiences of healing. This book examines six core areas of healing through a holistic lens that is grounded in a decolonizing perspective. Situating integrative healing within social work education and theory, the book takes an interdisciplinary approach, drawing from social memory and historical trauma, contemplative traditions, storytelling, healing literatures, integrative health, and the traditional environmental knowledge of Indigenous Peoples. In exploring issues of water, creative expression, movement, contemplation, animals, and the natural world in relation to social work practice, the book will appeal to all scholars, practitioners, and community members interested in decolonization and Indigenous studies.

In this uniquely vivid and compelling textbook, the authors reflect on eight challenging situations they have faced in the world of child protection social work. Their candid accounts provide in-depth case studies in how to work reflectively, using theory and research in situations of pressure and dilemma. They cover many common aspects of practice, including: * assessing risk; * managing different professional perspectives; * working with uncooperative clients; * dealing with organisational change. Throughout the book, the authors pause at intervals to reveal their thoughts and feelings, either as reflections in the moment or afterwards, and they invite the reader to do the same. Their detailed analysis will allow you to understand why particular decisions might be made, and how you can overcome similar predicaments using the tools of reflective practice. Annotated further readings lists and a glossary of terms offer further resources for study. The realities of child protection social work can be intimidating for even the most seasoned practitioners. This book is designed to empower both students and qualified professionals to practise safely, responsibly and confidently.

"This is a much needed and long-awaited book as the field of medical family therapy reaches its current level of maturity. The authors are respected clinicians and researchers in the area and they share their expertise and wisdom in this book with elegance. An impressively practical book that is likely to become a very useful resource for all those looking for a go to book in this area "
- Sy Saeed, MD, MS, FACPsych
Professor and Chairman
Department of Psychiatric Medicine
Brody School of Medicine
East Carolina University
Editor-in-Chief
Journal of Psychiatric Administration and Management (JPAM)

"As we seek to implement a medical system that meets the needs of all families, it is critical that we delineate and understand the skills, tasks and opportunities at every level of the healthcare process. Medical Family Therapists are at the core of this endeavor with a unique blend of clinical, organizational and leadership talents. More and more, these professionals are being invited to the table where they remind us to consider the family, and attend to the relationships within and between all involved in the delivery of efficient and effective care. This book guides the Medical Family Therapist as they step into these roles of influencing the influencers. It is a must read to understand the further complexities of the healthcare puzzle and the roles played in shaping a healthcare system that can both financially and physically heal us."
- Tina Schermer Sellers, PhD, LMFT
Department of Marriage & Family Therapy
Seattle Pacific University
Seattle, Washington

"High praise to Hodgson, Lamson, Mendenhall, and Crane and in creating a seminal work for systemic researchers, educators, supervisors, policy makers and financial experts in health care. The comprehensiveness and innovation explored by every author reflects an in depth understanding that reveals true pioneers of integrated health care. Medical Family Therapy: Advances in Application will lead the way for Medical Family Therapists in areas just now being acknowledged and explored.
-" Tracy Todd, PhD, LMFT
Executive Director of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy

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"Medical Family Therapy is a growing area of practice that is reflective of healthcare s need for professionals who are trained to develop integrated models of care. It is becoming widely-recognized by family therapists and other mental and medical professionals that professionals need to connect the complex facets of biomedical care and mental health treatment with individuals and families. Medical Family Therapy: Advanced Applications is the first text to focus on the advanced practice of the emerging field of Medical Family Therapy. This text offers up-to-date and in-depth insights into training, research and policy making it a perfect resource for the growing number of graduate programs in the field."

-Based on a comprehensive and exhaustive empirically-based analysis of children's play: the research observed and analyzed the play activities of 289 children who are developing typically, and 203 children who are developing with delays. -Use children's naturally occurring play activities for evaluation, as opposed to eliciting responses to contrived tasks or questions for the child or caregiver -Geared specifically for personnel who serve young children - from late infancy through the preschool period who are developing with delays: no other system covers the age span of late infancy through the preschool period. - The assessment is "language free" - does not require children to answer questions, thereby extending its use to children from various cultural backgrounds, children who are developing with language delays, and those with relevant disabilities. -Ideal where parents or caregivers may not be fully aware of what their child knows or can do. -The online training program for practitioners is designed for exclusive online use, rendering it appealing for wide-spread use.