Social Work with Unmarried Mothers and Their Children
Learning from the Past
Robert Mackenzie author Viviene E Cree author
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Publishing:23rd Jan '26
£145.00
This title is due to be published on 23rd January, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
This is a social work history with a difference. Written with and by a retired social worker and three former residents of a children’s home in Edinburgh, Scotland, it tells the story of one agency’s response to unmarried mothers and their children during and after the Second World War, and alongside this, the story of what was, at the time, a new and experimental approach to group care for children.
Based on the experience of the Guild of Service for Women, then a prominent Scottish voluntary agency, and Edzell Lodge and Margaret Cottage family group homes, we learn from the inside what life was like for unmarried mothers and their children between the early 1940s and early 1960s. The book draws on three very different sources of evidence: social policy and legislation, historical sources and social work literature; memories of children (now older adults) and staff members; and archival research (agency records and genealogical sources).
Taken together, these present a rich and nuanced picture of social work and childcare in the past, offering much learning for social work and childcare in the future, as well as a timely example of a co-produced, collaborative research and writing project.
“Meticulously and lovingly researched and beautifully told, this book gives voice to the unmarried mothers and children who have been erased from history. It urges social work to confront its own past with honesty and humility and provides it with a vital opportunity to learn, reflect, and do better today. It is both a record of what was and a guide to what must change.”
Professor Harry Ferguson, Professor of Social Work, University of Birmingham
“This a wonderful rich and moving social history of the lives of mothers, children and others, linked by diverse circumstances, that paints a picture of both positive and negative consequences of childhoods in care, constructed by drawing on first person narratives, records and archival materials. This innovative book will be of great interest to social workers in child and family services around the world.“
Professor Liz Beddoe, University of Auckland
“This beautifully written book tells the multi-layered story of the lives of three unmarried mothers, their children and a social work agency which surrounded them. Written by a social worker and former care leavers this book is filled with warmth and wisdom and creates an important lens through which to view the past, present and future of social work with children and their families.”
Professor Ruth Emond, Professor of Social Work, University of Stirling
ISBN: 9781032871400
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
138 pages