Product Description

This text offers a comprehensive account of how social developmental perspectives and attachment theory can illuminate practice in the field of child protection and family support. Drawing extensively throughout on case study material, the text moves from an introduction to the key theories to a detailed outline of the main methods and processes. It offers a carefully developed and systematically tested practice and assessment model for professionals in this area and should be a valuable resource for students and professionals alike.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37428 in Books
• Published on: 1999-09-17
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Harry Ferguson, British Journal of Social Work
'...this excellent book...should be required reading for all professionals involved in childcare and protection'.

Jim Ennis, Child and Family Social Work
'...a timely publication which will help practitioners clarify and underpin their thinking in work with children and families'.

Kay French, Community Practitioner
'The attempt to integrate theory into practice has culminated in this excellent book'

Customer Reviews

"Thats what it means!"
Loved this book so much! It gave me lots of info that brought my experiences,thoughts, intuition and knowladge together.

I found myself contantly saying Thats what it is! meaning that I have worked with children parents complex and otherwise and had seen that it was the parents or childs perception of what was happening or how they perceived it to be going to happen, that informed thier every day life and at times caused adults to maltreate children. The affects on this of a childs attachment to a care giver is what this book is essentially about.

The meatyness of this book was so satisfying. it has been a long time since I have read a book that has met my needs as a worker and my desire as a person to understand more about attachment and move on, the information that Bowlby gave us.

This book also talks about the reality of work with Maltreating parents and the outcome for children of living with such care. I have found it has spurred me on to try and offer more to the parent's, to undertand the internal working model of the child and the parent. Yet I have also had a determination to evidence my reports in such a way that means that the long term outcomes and affects on children of a lack in their attachment should be clearly understood and acted upon in some cases.

I am very lucky to be booked into a two day training cource by the author which will no doubt give me another feast.

the ideal handbook
This book makes for an excellent handbook. Comprehensive yet easy to read and easy to reference the theory base is divided up into manageable sections with useful headings that allow you to review typical attachment behaviours from infancy to adult and parenthood. Ideal for the busy practitioner.

Much to offer the busy Practitioner and Supervisor
There is much in this text to offer the busy Practitioner and Supervisor a framework for understanding the often challenging and demanding responses and relationships of service users. The accessible introduction to attachment theoy is then applied to both assessment and intervention in work with children and families. Whilst the book reinforces a 'therapeutic' approach that may appear idealistic to some it appropriately reminds us to view our own relationships with service users as ones that will also trigger attachment behaviour. As such it encourages an empathic and reflective approach to practice that steers away from framing responses, both in Practitioners and service users, through a blaming lense. This builds on Howe's earlier work questioning the rise of proceduralism in social work practice. As a supervisor I have found the text useful to keep reflection focused upon relationships with people and associated dynamics as opposed to a procedural preoccupation. One weakness is the miminal attention to building motivation and engagement as most of the interventions detailed assume this key preliminary task has been achieved. Nonetheless, the key meesage I read was to develop appropriate relationships and not to see practice as the sum of following procedures - to go one step further - do that little extra - express openness, clarity and empathy.