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 Child Welfare Services for Minority Ethnic Families: The Research Reviewed
 June Thoburn, Ashok Chand & Joanne Procter, Jessica Kingsley Publishers
 ISBN 1843102692, 19.95

 STAR RATING: 4/5






This book surprises as much as it informs, writes Melanie Howes. While it summarises the outcomes of research projects on children in need, children at risk, and children who have been looked after or placed for adoption, the authors' analysis of the research is sandwiched between forceful critiques.

One is from the perspective of a black community worker and former academic, and one is from the authors who challenge the research community to involve research subjects in future research projects.

Alongside analyses and comparisons of research findings, there are useful summaries of individual research projects. The authors conclude that services need to improve for this group of children and their families but acknowledge that the research provides few ideas on how this might happen. Instead they emphasise how being black in a "white" society discriminates against the people the system should be supporting.

The force of the writers' views creates interest as it jolts the reader into thinking how research can be taken forward.

This book serves to promote a welcome discussion on how to promote change.

Melanie Howes is a leaving care social worker, Cornwall Council