Shaping Childcare Practice in Scotland: Key papers on Adoption and Fostering.

Edited by Malcolm Hill.
BAAF Adoption and Fostering
£14.95
ISBN 1 903699 14 2

Those unfamiliar with the Scottish legal and policy framework
will find this book surprisingly accessible, and its themes
familiar.

It is a collection of papers written by Scottish practitioners,
academics and policy-makers, and highlights the complexity of
practice within this field. The papers have all previously been
published in Adoption and Fostering, BAAF Adoption and
Fostering’s quarterly journal, during the past 20 years. They trace
the development of policy trends, and explore many of the issues
practitioners face.

With contributions from such notable figures as John Triseliotis,
Moira Borland, Lydia Lambert, and Malcolm Hill, the collection
offers an authoritative overview of the more familiar debates and
some of the less well-known areas. For example, the views of birth
fathers after adoption; the views of carers’ own children; the
assessment of Asian families; and intercountry adoption.

There is always more one would want to see included in such a
collection (for example, the perspectives of non-consenting birth
parents) but this is an interesting and challenging read, meriting
space on every practitioner’s bookshelf.

Lynne Wilson is senior lecturer in social work, University
of Lincoln.