Improving Children's Services Networks
| Pages | 77-78 |
| Date | 01 June 2007 |
| Published date | 01 June 2007 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17466660200700009 |
| Author | Roger Smith |
| Subject Matter | Education,Health & social care,Sociology |
77
Journal of Children’s Services
Volume 2 Issue 1 June 2007
© Pavilion Journals (Brighton) Ltd
Book reviews
schemes and too many for my liking seem fairly
wedded to the idea that prison works to protect the
public and to punish young offenders. In arguing that
more needs to be done to understand young
offenders’ complex backgrounds and multiple needs
in order to influence policy-makers, politicians and
sentencers in the direction of more compassionate
community alternatives to custodial or secure
remands, Lipscombe presents us with convincing
evidence that current policy in relation to young
people in trouble is at best misguided and at worst
wittingly unjust. In this way, she meets her original
aims for the book – opposing the confinement of
children, challenging negative public and political
attitudes and appraising community alternatives to
custody and secure accommodation remands. In
addition, she provides us with a timely reminder that
young people facing enormous life difficulties need
care, protection, forbearance and creativity, not
simply condemnation and control.
Reviewed by: Rona Woodward
Lecturer in Social Work, Department of Applied Social
Science, University of Stirling
Improving Children’s Services Networks
Jane Tunstill, Jane Aldgate and Marilyn Hughes
London: Jessica Kingsley, 2006
158 pages, £17.99
ISBN: 1 84310 461 X
Family centres have been an important element of
service provision for children and families in the UK
since at least the 1970s. During that time, they have
been the subject of much interest, and considerable
efforts have been made to incorporate their best
features into wider policy changes. This book, in
effect, provides a contemporary analysis of their
achievements and prospects under the shadow of yet
another central government policy initiative, namely
Every Child Matters, and its diverse manifestations in
law and guidance.
As the authors observe, the changing climate
brings about new demands and expectations. Those
involved in family centres will have to negotiate these
carefully over the coming years. Whilst this change
agenda in itself brings substantial challenges, it has
also been evident over their history that family
centres themselves have continually wrestled with
the problems of defining their fundamental purposes,
key stakeholders and operating principles. Thus, as
the authors point out, several different models have
developed over the years, offering a very wide range
of services and adopting contrasting models of
intervention, from open access to predominantly
referral-based programmes.
The aim of this book is to review the emerging
patterns of practice in family centres from a range of
perspectives, including those of people who use
services as well as those of providers, in order to
identify possible opportunities for development in a
context where increasing emphasis is being placed on
integrated service networks for children. The structure
is effectively circular, in that the starting point is the
present policy agenda for child and family services,
within which framework the practice of family centres
is examined, leading to a concluding discussion of
their potential for future development both in terms of
policy initiatives and service provision.
As the authors observe at the start, the policy
context has been characterised by rapid recent
change, and they note that this has meant that it
sometimes feels as if any attempt to study current
practice is itself limited by the difficulties of providing
a definitive picture in times of uncertainty.
Nevertheless, the efforts of family centres to sustain
their activities and remain relevant are also important
References
Smith DJ & McAra L (2004) Gender and Youth Offending.Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh.
Walker M, Hill M & Triseliotis J (2002) Testing the Limits of Foster Care: Fostering as an alternative to secure accommodation.
London: BAAF.
Walters R & Woodward R (2007) Punishing poor parents: ‘respect’, ‘responsibility’and parenting orders in Scotland. Youth
Justice 7(1) 5–20.
White R & Cunneen C (2006) Social class, youth crime and justice. In: B Goldson & J Muncie (Eds) Youth Crime and Justice
(pp17–29). London: Sage.
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