Reviews : On Behalf of the Child: The Work of the Guardian-Ad-Litem Anna Kerr, Eva Gregory, Susan Howard and Freda Hudson Venture Press, 1990; 122 pp; £7.95 pbk
| Published date | 01 March 1991 |
| Author | Craig Steeland |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059103800111 |
| Date | 01 March 1991 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
43
struggling
to
find
consensus
about
where
to
start
the
discussion,
at
the
cost
of
getting
nowhere
fast.
Perhaps
this
book
will
help
me
in
this.
What
it
does
not
do
of
course -
how
could
it?
-
is
tell
me
anything
about
what
might
make
a
difference
to
sentencing
practice.
Robert
Waters
is
to
be
con-
gratulated
on
a
thorough
piece
of
work
carefully
carried
out.
He
has
no
axes
to
grind
and
his
work
is
free
of
cant
and
rhetoric.
It
is
obviously
designed
to
help
colleagues
and
in
this
I
think
that
he
has
been
successful.
However
he
has
been
ill
served
by
his
publishers.
The
cost
of
this
book
is
outrageous.
David
Millard
SPO,
Birmingham
On
Behalf
of
the
Child:
The
Work
of
the
Guardian-Ad-Litem
Anna
Kerr,
Eva
Gregory,
Susan
Howard
and
Freda
Hudson
Venture
Press,
1990;
122
pp;
£7.95
pbk.
This
book
is
to
be
welcomed,
if
only
for
the
reason
that
it
has
taken
six
years
for
the
first
’proper’
book
about
the
work
of
the
GAL
to
appear.
In
her
preface
Judith
Timms
describes
the
book
as
’a
state
of
the
art
look
at
the
profession’,
but
how
well
does
it
live
up
to
that
description?
Certainly
the
book
is
well
resear-
ched.
It
is
fully
referenced
and
incor-
porates
numberous
case
examples
from
the
authors’
extensive
combined
prac-
tice
experience.
A,
separate
chapter
is
devoted
to
each
stage
of
the
investiga-
tion
and
additional
chapters
offer
ad-
vice
on
the
crucial
issues
of
access,
on
the
GAL’s
role
in
wardship
proceedings,
on
the
Reporting
Officer’s
role
in
adop-
tion
proceedings,
and
on
the
writing
of
the
report
itself.
Most
chapters
in-
clude
a
section
headed
’How
the
Guar-
dian
Approaches
the
Task’,
containing
clear
suggestions
about
what
the
four
authors
regard
as
good
practice.
Although
this
structure
leads
to
the
fre-
quent
repetition
of
some
material,
it
does
enable
each
chapter
to
stand
fairly
independently
of
the
others.
The
individual
chapters,
however,
do
tend
to
vary
widely
in
the
quality
and
style
of
the
writing,
a
feature
which
is
perhaps
the
inevitable
and
un-
fortunate
result
of
having
such
an
abundant
supply
of
authors
for
such
a
relatively
slim
book.
Another
unfortunate
feature
of
this
book
is
that
it,
like
any
other
book
about
child
care
practice
being
publish-
ed
at
the
present
time,
must
stand
in
the
shadow
of
the
Children
Act
1989.
Consequently,
whilst
the
authors
are
able
to
acknowledge
that
practice
is
about
to
be
transformed
by
new
legisla-
tion,
they
are
unable
to
be
specific
about
the
implications
of
the
Act
as
the
regulations
relevant
to
the
work
of
the
GAL
had
not
been
published
at
the
time
of
their
writing
the
book.
A
major
flaw
in
this
book
which
purports
to
describe
’state
of
the
art’
practice
is
that
it
does
not
even
begin
to
deal
adequately
with
the
issues
of
race
or
racism.
The
book
devotes
only
a
single
paragraph
to
the
complex
issue
of
transracial
placements
for
children
and
the
index
does
not
even
include
the
headings
’Black’
or
’Race’.
Although
the
authors
do
suggest
that
white
GALs
should
seek
appropriate
guidance
when
working
with cases
in-
volving
Black
people,
it
is
surely
not
too
much
to
expect
that
the
authors
would
at
least
outline
the
major
issues
and
arguments
in
the
current
debate
about
transracial
placements.
Craig
Steeland
Court
Welfare
Officer
and
GAL,
Nottinghamshire
The
Probation
Service
in
a
Market
Driven
World
Roger
Statham
Cleveland
Probation
Service,
1990,
£2
This
is
a
useful
monograph.
It
provides
in
short
compass
an
update
on
the
progress
of
business-orientated
managerialism
in
the
public
sector
in
general
and
the
probation
service
in
To continue reading
Request your trial