Reviews : Divorce and Your Children ANNE HOOPER George Allen and Unwin; 1981; pp 146; £6.95
| DOI | 10.1177/026455058202900126 |
| Date | 01 March 1982 |
| Published date | 01 March 1982 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
38
again
obscuring
the
focus
for
work.
Yet
the
text’s
very
strength
and
relevance
for
social
work
ethics
and
practice
pro-
bably
lies
in
its
ability
to
accommodate
a
spirit
of
caring,
understanding
and
realistic
optimism
alongside
a
reason-
ably
stringent
mechanical
process.
It
correlates
rather
than
polarises
the
art
and
the
science
of
social
work.
Don’t
be
put
off
by
the
cover.
ANNE
RUSSELL
Liskeard,
Cornwall
The
Brixton
Disorders:
Report
of
an
Inquiry
THE
RT
HON
THE
LORD
SCARMAN,
OBE
HMSO;
Cmnd
8427;
£8.00,
Policy
and
Practice
in
the
Multi-
Racial
City
KEN
YOUNG
AND
NAOMI
CONNELLY
The
Policy
Studies
Institute;
£6.50.
Lord
Scarman,
by
his
sympathetic
and
searching
approach,
won
over
the
con-
fidence
and
hearts
of
many
during
his
inquiry.
His
recommendations,
which
were
previously
thought
of
as
being
radical,
are
now
being
accepted
in
estab-
lishment
quarters,
and
even
the
Police
Federation.
Despite
his
recognition,
however,
of
deep-seated
social
causes,
his
recommendations
emphasise
the
service
delivery
of
statutory
agencies,
particul-
arly
the
police.
The
importance
of
con-
sumer
protection
cannot
be
under-
estimated
and
certainly
apply
equally
to
the
Probation
Service.
However
Govern-
ment
agencies
can
never
in
themselves
resolve
problems
of
alienation
and
economic
powerlessness.
Young
and
Connelly
published
their
book
on
the
same
day.
It
is
the
final
report
of
a
study
carried
out
for
the
Home
Office
Research
Unit.
They
study
the
extent
to
which
local
and
central
government
have
tried
to
reduce
and
eradicate
racial
disadvantage
through
the
services
they
run
and
the
employment
they
provide.
They
find
little
real
progress
despite,
in
some
cases,
promising
policy
decisions.
Practice
results
from
a
mixture
of
con-
sensus
politics
and
the
interests
of
those
in
power.
They
found
no
evidence
of
provision
reflecting
need.
Government
initiated
inqmries
and
research
almost
inevitably
recommend
better
consultation
with
local
people
to
improve
the
service
given
by
govern-
ment-sponsored
middlemen.
They
rarely
discuss
means
of
transferring
power
to
people
to
take
their
own
life-decisions.
That
was
precisely
where
the
Community
Development
Programme
failed.
P.
J.
SIMPSON
DTC,
Liverpool
Divorce
and
Your
Children
ANNE
HOOPER
George
Allen
and
Unwin;
1981;
pp
146;
£6.95.
The
author
is
a
marriage
and
divorce
counsellor.
Her
own
experience
of
separation
demonstrated
the
difficulties
of
obtaining
specific
practical
help
in
discussing
the
situation
with
her
child-
ren.
This
book
emerged
from
this
fruit-
less
search
and
is
based
on
interviews
with
divorced
couples
and
their
children,
and
investigates
how
they
managed
the
process
of
separation
and
its
correspond-
ing
difficulties,
and
takes
account
of
the
eventual
results.
The
book
is
both
informative
and
readable
and
takes
the
reader
step
by
step
through
the
problems
that
were
found
to
be
encountered
by
divorcing
parents.
It
also
contains
a
useful
guide
for
obtaining
help
with
allied
problems
such
as
housing,
nurseries,
counselling
and
conciliation
services.
The
author
optimistically
takes
the
view
that
with
a
knowledge
and
utilisa-
tion
of
appropriate
resources
and
with
a
sense
of
humour,
it is
possible
to
survive
the
rigours
of
divorce,
and
continue
to
be
caring,
concerned
parents
of
well
adjusted
children.
WENDY
JONES
Probation
Officer,
Kidderminster
Conciliation
and
Divorce
JUDGE BRIAN
GRANT
Barry
Rose
Publishers
Ltd;
1981;
pp
48;
£3.85.
By
an
effective
device,
Judge
Grant
has
managed
to
combine
the
principal
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