- Email: [email protected]
Children — A Multi-Professional Perspective
490
Book reviews / International Journal of Nursing Studies 38 (2001) 489–491
Children } A Multi-Professional Perspective D. Wyse, A. Hawtin (Eds.); Arnold, London This soft cover 176 page volume is intended to provide an interdisciplinary perspective on aspects of childhood, particularly as they relate to childhood studies programmes. Each chapter is co-authored by professionals from different disciplines in an effort to achieve an integrated multi-professional perspective. This is a laudable goal, particularly given the recent emphasis on multi-professional education and the dearth of collaboratively written review texts. However, the resultant volume falls short of achieving a truly integrated and multi-professional perspective on children and an emphasis on education is dominant throughout. The first chapter, for example, begins with a description of the history of childhood from a variety of sociological perspectives. This is followed by a rather disjointed discussion of children’s literature which, at times, appears to be no more than a recommended reading list for parents and children. The chapter includes frequent political commentary and stereotypical description and does not appear to relate in a cogent manner to the rest of the volume. The second chapter provides a more traditional undergraduate level overview and discussion of the major theories of child development. The chapter also contains an interesting discussion on the role of play in child development and education. However, this is followed by a lengthy commentary on the evolution of governmental education policy and its influence on school curricula. The next four chapters review the assessment of children, theories of the family, and discuss childhood risk and children’s rights. In Chapter 3, following an interesting and cogent discussion of how children assess themselves, health assessment receives only a cursory mention and educational policy and politics dominates
the discussion. Chapter 4 presents a definition of the family and an overview of family theory, with an emphasis on the social politics and family breakdown. The role of the family in child health is not discussed. Chapter 5 provides a more in depth discussion of the theories of violence and highlights legal aspects of child risk for abuse and neglect and child protection in the United Kingdom with an emphasis on the role of the teacher. The last chapter reviews the rights of children, again with emphasis on their rights related to education. This book provides an excellent ‘beginner’s guide’ to the undergraduate student in child studies who seeks exposure to the historical developments and current debates in child psychology, sociology, and education. However, the reader will require other resources for a more in-depth and critical appraisal of the topics. The graduate student or practising professional will not find this book as useful, except perhaps as an introduction to or review of the history and politics of childhood education in the United Kingdom. Health care professional may be frustrated by the minimal discussion of childhood health and illness. However, health care professionals enticed into reading this volume because of the title are likely to appreciate the social, political, and educational context of childhood and this will perhaps have a subtle influence in moving toward a multi-professional perspective in working with children.
Linda S. Franck King’s College London Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust James Clerk Maxwell Building, 57 Waterloo Road London SE1 8WA, UK E-mail address: s.davies@sheffield.ac.uk (S. Davies)[email protected]
PII: S 0 0 2 0 - 7 4 8 9 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 8 4 - 5
Research Training for Social Scientists. A Handbook for Postgraduate Researchers Dawn Burton (Ed.), Sage Publications, London, 2000, ISBN 0 7619 6350 2 (Hardback), ISBN 0 7619 6351 0 (Paperback) This book should be made mandatory reading for doctoral students in nursing and other health care sciences. It fills the gap between a number of ‘‘how to get a PhD’’ texts, which concentrate on describing the
process of working at doctoral level and traditional research method texts. The contents of the book are based on the UK’s Economic and Social. Research Council guidelines on research training for first year research students in social sciences. The book provides a readable and practical guide covering philosophy of science, ethical and legal issues in research, literature searching, qualitative methods, qualitative data analysis, survey design, quantitative data analysis, thesis preparation, presentation skills and publication.
Book reviews / International Journal of Nursing Studies 38 (2001) 489–491
Children } A Multi-Professional Perspective D. Wyse, A. Hawtin (Eds.); Arnold, London This soft cover 176 page volume is intended to provide an interdisciplinary perspective on aspects of childhood, particularly as they relate to childhood studies programmes. Each chapter is co-authored by professionals from different disciplines in an effort to achieve an integrated multi-professional perspective. This is a laudable goal, particularly given the recent emphasis on multi-professional education and the dearth of collaboratively written review texts. However, the resultant volume falls short of achieving a truly integrated and multi-professional perspective on children and an emphasis on education is dominant throughout. The first chapter, for example, begins with a description of the history of childhood from a variety of sociological perspectives. This is followed by a rather disjointed discussion of children’s literature which, at times, appears to be no more than a recommended reading list for parents and children. The chapter includes frequent political commentary and stereotypical description and does not appear to relate in a cogent manner to the rest of the volume. The second chapter provides a more traditional undergraduate level overview and discussion of the major theories of child development. The chapter also contains an interesting discussion on the role of play in child development and education. However, this is followed by a lengthy commentary on the evolution of governmental education policy and its influence on school curricula. The next four chapters review the assessment of children, theories of the family, and discuss childhood risk and children’s rights. In Chapter 3, following an interesting and cogent discussion of how children assess themselves, health assessment receives only a cursory mention and educational policy and politics dominates
the discussion. Chapter 4 presents a definition of the family and an overview of family theory, with an emphasis on the social politics and family breakdown. The role of the family in child health is not discussed. Chapter 5 provides a more in depth discussion of the theories of violence and highlights legal aspects of child risk for abuse and neglect and child protection in the United Kingdom with an emphasis on the role of the teacher. The last chapter reviews the rights of children, again with emphasis on their rights related to education. This book provides an excellent ‘beginner’s guide’ to the undergraduate student in child studies who seeks exposure to the historical developments and current debates in child psychology, sociology, and education. However, the reader will require other resources for a more in-depth and critical appraisal of the topics. The graduate student or practising professional will not find this book as useful, except perhaps as an introduction to or review of the history and politics of childhood education in the United Kingdom. Health care professional may be frustrated by the minimal discussion of childhood health and illness. However, health care professionals enticed into reading this volume because of the title are likely to appreciate the social, political, and educational context of childhood and this will perhaps have a subtle influence in moving toward a multi-professional perspective in working with children.
Linda S. Franck King’s College London Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust James Clerk Maxwell Building, 57 Waterloo Road London SE1 8WA, UK E-mail address: s.davies@sheffield.ac.uk (S. Davies)[email protected]
PII: S 0 0 2 0 - 7 4 8 9 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 8 4 - 5
Research Training for Social Scientists. A Handbook for Postgraduate Researchers Dawn Burton (Ed.), Sage Publications, London, 2000, ISBN 0 7619 6350 2 (Hardback), ISBN 0 7619 6351 0 (Paperback) This book should be made mandatory reading for doctoral students in nursing and other health care sciences. It fills the gap between a number of ‘‘how to get a PhD’’ texts, which concentrate on describing the
process of working at doctoral level and traditional research method texts. The contents of the book are based on the UK’s Economic and Social. Research Council guidelines on research training for first year research students in social sciences. The book provides a readable and practical guide covering philosophy of science, ethical and legal issues in research, literature searching, qualitative methods, qualitative data analysis, survey design, quantitative data analysis, thesis preparation, presentation skills and publication.