Archive

 Working with Parents of Young People: Research, Policy and Practice
 Edited by Debi Roker and John Coleman,
 Jessica Kingsley
 ISBN 1843104202,
 £18.99

 STAR RATING: 5/5

I like this book, not least because it begins with the premise that blaming parents and punishing them for their children's behaviour is scientifically and ethically flawed. Thank you, writes Sarah Welsh.

The editors answer questions, highlight practice, and research issues about how to support the parenting and care of secondary school-age children with both general and targeted approaches. They mainly derive their conclusions from project based research carried out by the Trust for the Study of Adolescence.

The research reports are succinct and at the end of each chapter there are clear conclusions and "Learning for Practitioners" sections about what works, and what needs to be investigated further.

Common conclusions are the underestimation of how much work is involved in building trusting relationships within communities in order to encourage participation, and how time-consuming the projects practical tasks are.

The grassroots approach and the support for the inclusion of young people and their views, and those of parents, carers and workers, in project and research evaluation is another positive for the editors.

The book provides the evidence base for anyone involved in parenting work with young people and their carers.

Sarah Welsh is an independent social worker and webmaster of www.indibooks.co.uk - a resource for social care students, workers, adoption and foster carers