Published by The International Centre for Therapeutic Care
Residential child care includes regular columns from John Diamond of The Mulberry Bush School
The waves of pain come and go. I try thinking of other waves. I try to hear the splash on the beach and the sucking gurgle and the pebbles rumbling about as the wave pulls back to try again. I try to cut out the noise of screaming, but the screaming is mine and it … Read more
This item was received as a response to comments we made in News Views, reporting on the plans for standard-setting in Scotland and accounts of the impact of regulatory visits on childminders in England. Click here to read the original news items (January 2008 issue). I am the project manager responsible for the introduction of … Read more
We have had this network drawn to our attention; the following information is taken from their website and a circular email about the contents of the latest edition of the SW&S Journal. Mission Statement The Social Work & Society Online News Magazine (SocMag) is a free access online only magazine that aims at establishing a … Read more
You never know what the really significant events in a child’s life are likely to be, let alone when they are going to happen. But when they do occur there is always the challenge of the unpredictable questions that these events provoke. With this in mind let me try to describe a sequence of events … Read more
I spent the weeks leading up to Christmas wandering around watching all the hurly burly as usual. People dashing around, pushing and shoving each other, banging into each other with huge bags of shopping and generally showing a great lack of goodwill. Sometimes if I was tired I just sat on the steps around the … Read more
One of the characteristics of a grounded profession is its interest in the origins of the profession, how it has grown, the problems it has addressed, the mistakes it has made, and the solutions it has found. An awareness and understanding of its past lays the foundation for continuing development and growth, and helps it … Read more
Technological and medical advances have done little to decrease the numbers of children at risk in the developing world. Instead, with the increased sophistication of reporting systems, there seem to be increasing numbers of children and adolescents whose development is seen as compromised, whether because of overt abuse, neglect or an insidious pattern of parenting … Read more
Today we take it for granted that there is a stage in life which is labelled as ‘Childhood’ – usually the period between birth and 12 years of age. (The teenage years represent a time during which young people have one foot in Childhood and one foot in Adulthood). However are we sure what Childhood … Read more
Under Section 5(2) of the Criminal Law Act 1967 a person can be charged with wasting police time, and if the case is serious, a sentence of six months in prison may be passed. The guidelines suggest that wasting ten hours marks the watershed for action to be taken. I suggest that it is time … Read more
It has been my privilege in the past twelve months to travel widely throughout the world. Since the summer, for example, I have been in Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Australia. This has been the result of invitations to lecture, speak and preach on subjects relating to children and childhood. There have been … Read more
I recently spent some time in Australia and contributed to three child care conferences with a particular focus on residential care. It was striking to discover that many agencies wanted to explore what constituted ‘therapeutic’ residential care. This was a particular focus for the people in Victoria State (which includes Melbourne). There the Government has … Read more
The first part of this story was in last month’s Webmag. If you want to read it first, click here. I soon found a crowd to hang around with. They showed me how to lift things. Food from market stalls, the odd purse or wallet. And of course we did begging. I looked so small … Read more