University of Chicago Press: New Titles in Sociology: Sociology--Marriage and Family

Family Troubles?

Jane Ribbens McCarthy; Carol-Ann Hooper; Val Gillies — Wed, 15 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

As the everyday lives of children and young people are increasingly understood as matters of public policy and concern, the question of how we can understand the difference between "normal" family troubles and troubled or troubling families has become more important. In this timely and thought-provoking book, a wide range of contributors address topics such as infant care, sibling conflict, divorce, disability, illness, substance abuse, violence, kinship care, and forced marriage, in an effort to explore how the concept of trouble features in normal families and how the concept of normal features in troubled families.

Child Protection

Siobhan E. Laird — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 05:00:00 GMT

As they intervene in families to reduce the risk of harm to children, child-protection social workers are confronting increasingly high levels of hostility and aggression from some parents. Child Protection details applied theories of aggression in conjunction with the skills required for dealing with anger, conflict, and aggressive acts. Employing tools and reflective exercises to assist the application of theory to day-to-day child-protection practice, this indispensable and practical text is ideal for social work students, practitioners, and academics specializing in child protection.

Practical Social Pedagogy

Jan Storø — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 05:00:00 GMT

In Practical Social Pedagogy, Jan Storø shows the reader how the theories and practices of social pedagogy work together. He combines social pedagogy theories, psychology, sociology, and social work with a social constructionist perspective to help practitioners guide children and young people to cope better with the challenges they face as they grow up. Using many practical examples, he emphasizes the crucial meeting between practitioner and client as the space where the actualities of practice are determined.

Short Guide to Working with Children and Young People

Liesl Conradie; Tyrrell Golding — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Childhood and youth have become increasingly important topics across a range of disciplines, professions, and studies, and The Short Guide to Working with Children and Young People is an accessible introduction to the main concepts and policies surrounding them. Surveying the key theoretical perspectives of child and youth studies, it prepares readers with new ways of thinking about working with children and young people. Clear, concise, and accessible, it allows students to make more informed choices about their career pathways.

Children and Young People's Cultural Worlds

Sara Bragg; Mary Jane Kehily — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 06:00:00 GMT

Growing up in an increasingly media-saturated, commercial, and globalized world, children and young people in contemporary society encounter and must creatively adapt to a range of cultural phenomena. Offering a critical introduction to childhood in the digital age, Children and Young People’s Cultural Worlds challenges common concepts and concerns about childhood innocence held by many adults. It examines the diversity of childhood experiences and relationships—the distinctiveness of children’s worlds—and explores topics such as the consequences of age and the experience of living in different cultural contexts.

Utilizing contributions from scholars in a variety of different fields, it is interdisciplinary and international in scope. Including resources for teachers and students such as learning outcomes, activities, and additional readings and commentary, this well-written and beautifully presented book will be a valuable resource to anyone interested in new perspectives on childhood in the digital age.

Understanding Childhood

Mary Jane Kehily — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 06:00:00 GMT

Nationally and globally, childhood has become a crucial topic of sociopolitical debates and policy initiatives. Understanding Childhood offers a fresh look at how childhood has changed in recent years. It reveals how children’s needs and experiences have achieved a new visibility in wider social and political discourse.

Despite the privileges afforded to children in the West, the typical childhood experience there is no longer seen as an ideal model for other parts of the globe. Recent reports and policy concerns suggest that growing up in the West may be marked by the commercialization of childhood, which can lead to unhappiness, poor health, loss of innocence, and a general lack of well-being. The contributors here introduce readers to the cross-disciplinary field of childhood studies and offer an exciting and unique exploration of childhood as a concept, in the process engaging with a range of contemporary issues that shape our ideas of childhood both as an ideal and as a lived experience. Exploring childhood from a variety of research perspectives and traditions, Understanding Childhood also serves as a powerful introduction to careers in childhood service.