Book Review: M. Courtney and J. Thoburn, Children in State Care, The Library of Essays in Child Welfare and Development, Ashgate, Burlington VT, USA, 2009, £145.00 Hb, ISBN 978—0—75462—587—2
| Author | Sonia Jackson |
| DOI | 10.1177/1473225410369300 |
| Published date | 01 August 2010 |
| Date | 01 August 2010 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Youth Justice
Book Reviews
10(2) 197–204
© The Author(s) 2010
Reprints and permission: sagepub.
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DOI: 10.1177/1473225410369300
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M. Courtney and J. Thoburn, Children in State Care, The Library of Essays in Child Welfare
and Development, Ashgate, Burlington VT, USA, 2009, £145.00 Hb, ISBN 978–0–75462–587–2
Reviewed by: Professor Sonia Jackson, Thomas Coram Research Unit, Institute of Education,
University of London.
This substantial volume is part of a series in which journal papers on child-related topics
are brought together and reprinted in their original form. In this case the subject is arrange-
ments made for the care of children who cannot live with their birth families, ‘looked
after’ in UK terminology. One of the editors is based in England and the other in the
United States, and this is reflected in the choice of papers, here called ‘essays’, which are
mainly taken from British and American social work and social policy journals, with only
four exceptions, including contributions from Sweden and Australia.
The 33 papers are grouped into six parts, of which the last, Social Work and Care
Planning is much the shortest. Part 1 discusses History, Values and Context. Part II, deal-
ing with different aspects of foster care, forms the core of the book, and the other three
sections cover Residential Care, Routes out of Care, including reunification and adoption,
and Outcome Studies. The earliest paper is dated 1963 and the most recent 2005.
Both the historical and geographical sweep of the book throw up interesting contrasts.
Most of the research reported in US journals draws on massive data sets by comparison
with the small samples typical of UK studies. On the other hand one is struck by the
almost complete absence of children’s voices or any conception of their rights from the
American literature. The dominant social science discipline is clearly psychology rather
than sociology, although in general...
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