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By Jim Rose.
Routledge
ISBN 1 58391 200 2
£15.99

In the author's words, this book is written to "stimulate and encourage those who on a daily basis are involved in looking after young people in secure accommodation" and to "refresh their thinking and help them re-examine their practice."

It draws on Rose's 20 years' experience of working with young people, most recently as director of Medway Secure Training Centre in Kent.

A strength of the book is the numerous case studies deployed to illustrate issues and problems facing staff and children in secure accommodation. These reinforce the practical and worldly wise nature of the writing overall.

The key factors determining the quality of secure accommodation, Rose argues, include the physical environment, management systems and the ideas that inform practice.

However, perhaps most important are the personal relationships between children and their workers. "Present and faithful" are, he says in conclusion, "good words to describe the qualities" required of residential staff.

It is a simple but compelling argument.

David Porteous is senior lecturer in applied social studies, University of Luton.