Reviews : In the Child's Best Interests? : Divorce Court Welfare and the Search for a Settlement CHRISTOPHER CLULOW AND CHRISTOPHER VINCENT Tavistock, 1987; £10.95; pb; pp 260
| Author | Craig Steeland |
| Date | 01 June 1988 |
| Published date | 01 June 1988 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455058803500212 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
63
of
social
work1h~~
1
veiy
mM~-do%&ttMs
&dquo;
little
book
will be-Teo4
by
numy
q=lffiodir-ba
~6&
workers;
I
can
only
hope that 1-
wrong.
This
call
for
increased
que-gioning md
ref lect-
ing
upon
practice,
and
an
awareness widrpcog--~
niQon
of
its
underlying
theoretical
preiti~s,
seems
like
a
sensible
idea
and
as
such is
cer-
tainly
food
for
thought.
D.
A.
RAHO
Probation
Assistant,
Southend
In
the
Child’s
Best
Interests? :
Divorce
Court
Welfare
and
the
Search
for
a
Settlement
CHRISTOPHER
CLULOW
AND
CHRISTOPHER
VINCENT
Tavistock,
1987;
£10.95;
pb;
pp
260
To
some
extent
this
book
can
perhaps
be
best
described
as a
’welfare
report’
about
the
pro-
cress
of
preparing
welfare
reports.
The
authors
joined
the
staff
of
an
unidentified
Civil
Work
Unit
as
participant
observers
in
order
to
under-
take
the
research
which
forms
the
basis
of
this
book.
The
book
begins
with
an
excellent
des-
cription
of
the
historical
origins
and
the
legal
and
cultural
context
of
court
welfare
work.
It
then
goes
on
to
describe
in
detail
the
ways
in
which
these
court
welfare
officers
interacted
with
the
subjects
of
their
reports.
Having
presented
their
findings,
the
resear-
chers
(lilœ
some
court
welfare
officers)
are
very
guarded
in
making
any
recommendations.
Cer-
tainly
one
conclusion
can
be
drawn
from
this
research:
tbecourt
welfare
system
is
definitely
not
for
officers
who
require
a
great
deal
in
the
way
of
measurable
results
from
their
efforts
or
gratitude
from
their
clients.
The
research
also
reveals
that,
when
it
comes
to
their
respective
understandings
of
the
nature
and
purpose.,
of
their
contact,
court
welfare
of-
ficers
and
their
clients
are
often
at
cross-
purposes.
This
unsurprising
finding
confirms
what
many
other
consumer-focussed
social
work
research
studies
have
found
and
has
ob-
vious
implications.
Perhaps
the
most
important
contribution
of
this
book
is
the
discussion
about
the
ol’ganisa-
tional
structures
needed
to
support
officers
in-
volved
in this
often
stressful
area
of
work.
Isolated
civil
workers
might
wish
to
make
a
gift
of
this
book
to
their
favourite
line
manager.
When
reading
the
book,
one
must
get
some
sense
of
what
it
might
be
like
for
parents
when
they
Spread
- ’Welfare
reports
which
have
been
prepared
aoout 1hetnlelva tmd their
children.
The
conflicts
the
dilemmas
and
the
J $àtisfacdons
of
court
wdf*h
work
are
all
dewribed
here
and
many
of
the
situafions
described
will
be
familiar
to
anyone
who
prepares
welfare
reports.
The
book is
eicqueat-
ly
written
throughout
and
includes
what
might
be
the
most
extensive
bibliography
about civil
work
available
to
date.
Unfortunately,
this
is
the
kind
of
book
which
helps
to
maintain
the
’mystique’
which
often
surrounds
civil
work.
By
not
describing
or
discussing
the
actual
practice
methods
used
and
the
theory
behind
them,
this
book
will
not
make
court
welfare
work
any
more
approachable
for
those
not
already
working
in
this
area.
For
those
currently
working
in
court
welfare,
this
book
will
be
an
absorbing
read.
CRAIG
STEELAND
Court
Welfare
Officer,
Retford
Social
Work
in
a
Multi-Racial
Society
PETER
ELY
AND
DAVID
DENNY
Gower,
1987;
pb;
pp199.
I
have
not
regarded
myself
as
a
racist
and
yet
Ely
and
Denny
revealed
to
me
how
easy
it
is
to
be a
racist
social
worker
by
not
thinking
about
the
cultural
implications
of
every
day
decisions.
Several
examples
are
quoted
in
some
detain.
These
are
helpful
to
those
with
a
limited
knowledge
of
other
cultures
but
provide
only
a
small
insight.
Further
research
would
be
need-
ed
than
this
book
provides.
The
guidance
is
helpfully
couched
in
ways
directly
relevant
to
social
work
suggesting
how
various
actions
by
the
worker
might
be
interpreted.
This
kind
of
knowledge
is
not
easily
found
elsewhere.
The
volume
is
well
researched
almost,
I
found,
to
the
extent
that
quotes
from
one
study
follow
hard
on
the
heels
of
quotes
from
other
studies
for
page
after
page.
These
are
well
link-
ed
but
make
focussing
attention
more
difficult.
It
is,
however,
more
than
a
reference
book.
It
does
inform
the
current
anti-racist
approaches
adopted
by
the
Service,
and
takes
an
educative
role
alongside.
Teams,
for
example,
could
well
make
use
of
the
comments
on
SIR
writing
in
examining
their
own
practice.
PETER
THOMAS
Probation
Officer,
Rotherham
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