Child and Family in Context: Developing Ecological Pratice in Disadvantaged Communities

"Child welfare research increasingly focuses on the 'ecology' of childhood. The child is at the centre of interdependent systems including the household, the wider family, the local community and formal institutions such as schools. This approach to children's lives and seeing the 'whole child' has also underpinned key initiatives such as the Assessment Framework for Children in Need, and service developments such as Sure Start, the Children's Fund, extended schools and children's centres. However, the authors of this book argue that, in spite of these developments, much mainstream child welfare practice fails to adequately make the connections between the child and family, and the local communities of which they are a part." "The book reviews research on the impact of living in disadvantaged communities and develops the concept of 'ecological practice', which links community and family elements of children's well-being, and tries to work creatively with the connections between different parts of the child's life." "The practice approach that the authors advocate for working with individual children in their family and community contexts will be important and highly topical for practitioners, service managers and those involved in organisational and policy aspects of delivering children's services, as well as researchers, lecturers and students."--BOOK JACKET.Gill, Owen is the author of 'Child and Family in Context: Developing Ecological Pratice in Disadvantaged Communities', published 2007 under ISBN 9781905541157 and ISBN 1905541155.