Enhancing the Well‐being of Children and Families through Effective Interventions: International Evidence for Practice
| Published date | 01 December 2007 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17466660200700039 |
| Date | 01 December 2007 |
| Pages | 82-83 |
| Author | Sam Baeza |
| Subject Matter | Education,Health & social care,Sociology |
This is an interesting book for any practitioner or
student seeking an overview of current debates about
parenting young people and of initiatives undertaken
by the TSA in this field. It is also ambitious in that a
number of services and research projects are covered,
which might account for the absence of detail at
times. For any professional contemplating providing a
service for parents of young people this is a useful
and informative starting point and, as the editors
hope, it might serve to halt the reinvention of the
proverbial wheel.
Reviewed by: Angie Bartoli
Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University of
Northampton, UK
angie.bartoli@northampton.ac.uk
Book reviews
82 Journal of Children’s Services
Volume 2 Issue 4 December 2007
© Pavilion Journals (Brighton) Ltd
Enhancing the Well-being of Children and Families through Effective
Interventions: International Evidence for Practice
Colette McAuley, Peter J Pecora and Wendy Rose (Editors)
London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2006
384 pages, £24.99
ISBN: 978 1 84310 116 1
I am sometimes suspicious of books, like this one,
that carry a foreword by a member of the Government
of the day. It often means that there is little
discussion of resources, as was the case with Child
Protection: Messages from Research (Department of
Health, 1995). As a result, although the authors of
this volume have tried hard to be impartial, some of
the chapters should be read with a degree of care. For
example, Chapter 2 (Rose et al) talks about different
pieces of governmental policy and legislation without
mentioning the lack of resources given to local
authorities in order to implement them.
Nevertheless, this is a timely and important book
given the continuing debate around evidence-based
practice (Webb, 2001; Sheldon, 2001). It covers a
wide range of services, including foster care,
adoption, innovative approaches in schools and
communities, and interventions with children who
have experienced abuse or neglect. The title suggests
an international focus, although in reality it only
looks at the UK and US.
For readers coming from a social work
background, some of the chapters make for
uncomfortable if not irritating reading. Comments
such as ‘While some programmes have been
evaluated using rigorous study designs (eg.
randomised controlled trials or RCTs) many have
involved the use of observational or less scientific
study designs (eg. quantitative and process
evaluations)’ (Barlow, p71) imply that only the gold
standard of RCTs is a valid one and denigrate a great
deal of important qualitative research. This can have
the effect of negating the valuable data obtained by
actually talking to the people involved and exploring
their perception of the programmes on offer.
That said, any reader will draw the important
conclusion that the US is far ahead of the UK in terms
of evaluating interventions. This has implications for
UK government policy in that such research may aid
the development of interventions here (see Chapters
6 (Barlow) and 7 (Marcenko & Staerkel) regarding
home visiting for parents of pre-school children in the
UK and US respectively).
This book will be a useful addition to the bookshelf
for managers and social work practitioners in a time of
tight financial constraints when they are trying to
decide what interventions to refer service users to or
indeed which services to develop in the locality. It will
also be of use to senior managers when working out
budgets as it will help them to make hard choices
within an evidence-based framework.
In this respect there are strong arguments for
improving the interventions used with children and
families, and Nina Biehal’s contribution (Chapter 8)
provides a well-written and well-supported exposition
of what is available and what works for young people
and their families in the community within a UK
context. It is also important to identify what works and
use that knowledge to further improve such services,
and to that end this book provides an important
addition to the evidence-based practice literature.
The authors recognise that further research is
needed to advance the argument and in this respect I
would certainly support them. However, future
research should also highlight the need for
interventions to be delivered by well-trained,
dedicated and well-supported practitioners. In this
respect, researchers and educators cannot divorce
themselves from the politics of the evidence-based
movement, which has at times tended to ‘blame’
To continue reading
Request your trial