Aski Awasis/Children of the Earth

First Peoples Speaking on Adoption

Edited by Jeannine Carrière

The adoption of Aboriginal children into non-Aboriginal families has a long and contentious history in Canada. Life stories told by First Nations people reveal that the adoption experience has been far from positive for these communities and has, in fact, been an integral aspect of colonization. In an effort to decolonize adoption practices, the Yellowhead Tribal Services Agency (YTSA) in Alberta has integrated customary First Peoples’ adoption practices with provincial adoption laws and regulations… (more information)

Being Heard

The Experiences of Young Women in Prostitution

Edited by Kelly Gorkoff, Jane Runner

Being Heard examines, from their own perspectives and experiences, the lives of young women sexually exploited through prostitution. Putting their voices in the centre of its analysis, the book tries to help us more fully understand the experiences of girls exploited through prostitution, the complex issues of sex trade work and the ways to best respond to the issues. Beginning with a discussion of what little we know about youth prostitution, subsequent chapters address young women’s experiences… (more information)

Butterbox Babies

Baby Sales, Baby Deaths o New Revelations 15 Years Later

Bette L. Cahill

A young woman in Nova Scotia gives birth to a child out of wedlock. A childless couple in New Jersey desperately searches for a baby to adopt. These people never meet but their lives become forever linked through a tiny baby girl. Natalie, that baby, spent the first two years of her life in the Ideal Maternity Home on Canada’s rocky East Coast. Louis and Mabel Goldman of Newark adopted her in August 1945. Natalie was one of the survivors. Many babies born at the home were not adopted. They… (more information)

Circleworks

Transforming Eurocentric Conciousness

Fyre Jean Graveline

This book is intended to contribute to both the theoretical debate and classroom practice in the field of education. It explores the legitimacy of Aboriginal, holistic paradigms within some of the diverse frameworks available to educators: experiential learning, feminist and anti-racist pedagogies are emphasized. It documents an effort to interrupt current Aboriginal/European power relations by evolving an alternative Aboriginal teaching model and enacting it within university classrooms. This work… (more information)

Doing Anti-Oppressive Practice

Building Transformative, Politicized Social Work

Donna Baines

Exploring how to translate anti-oppressive theory into everyday social work practice and how to “do” politicized, transformative social work, this book brings together ten authors with extensive backgrounds in social justice and front line practice. Drawing on practice vignettes, personal experiences and case work examples, the authors focus on social work practice in a variety of settings, including child welfare, mental health, addictions, clinical therapy, women’s service, community… (more information)

Enriched by Catastrophe

Social Work and Social Conflict after the Halifax Explosion

Michelle Hébert Boyd

When social workers arrived on the scene after the Halifax explosion it marked the beginning of the transition from a charity model of social welfare to a profession of trained and paid social workers. The newly arrived social workers had to practise their skills in the context of Halifax’s prevailing class structures, where, traditionally, well-off volunteers passed judgment on their poorer neighbours and great care was taken not to improve the conditions of people beyond their station in… (more information)

From the Inside Looking Out

Competing Ideas about Growing Old

Jeanette Auger, Diane Tedford-Litle

Written from the perspective of older persons, this book puts forth the notion that these voices are as important and as necessary as those of a gerontologist’s when documenting the aging experience. There are a number of contradictions between the “realities” of aging produced by professionals and the subjective experiences of older persons as they live their everyday lives. The authors began with collecting literature about aging and for aging populations. They then conducted… (more information)

Grassroots Leaders Building Skills

The Henson College Certificate in Community Development

Anne Bishop

“Empowerment is the word. I’ve been forced to break out of my own circle and see more. I have a direction now in my community, more involvement in activism.”—student evaluating the Henson College Certificate in Community Development. This course was designed to sharpen social analysis and develop skills in leaders of low-income and marginalized communities in Nova Scotia. Taught by two experienced community workers and funded by two major Canadian foundations, it graduated… (more information)

Issumatuq

Learning from the Traditional Healing Wisdom of the Canadian Inuit

Kit Minor

Through the development of a culture-specific design the author shows us how Inuit people, in a working relationship with members of the dominant culture, can continue to define and decide on appropriate helping skills. (more information)

Pieces of a Puzzle

Perspectives on Child Sexual Abuse

Edited by Linda Burnside, Diane Hiebert-Murphy

This collection presents various “pieces” towards a comprehensive understanding of child sexual abuse and is intended for practitioners, researchers and students interested in contemporary perspectives on this issue. The volume offers a description of current Canadian research and intervention efforts on topics including treatment for child victims, understanding mothers of children who have been sexually abused, grooming patterns of offenders, a family systems approach to treatment,… (more information)

Reclaiming Self

Issues and Resources for Women Abused by Intimate Partners

Edited by Carolyn Goard, Leslie M. Tutty

Abuse of women by intimate partners is a significant problem in Canadian society. The critical issues facing abused women include the resources, such as shelters, and support groups available to assist them in being safe. This book considers the many aspects of supporting and providing safety for women who experience abuse. The authors focus on the impact of government policies, such as the criminal justice response and child protection services, on a woman’s ability to safely leave an abusive… (more information)

Seeds of Fire

Social Development in the Era of Globalism

Elizabeth Whitmore, Maureeen Wilson

Wilson and Whitmore, two activists with a history of “walking the talk” of working for social justice, offer a well researched, provocative wake up call for everyone concerned with the survival of democracy in the next millennium. Seeds of Fire inspires allies of popular movements for the work of the next century. -Patricia Maguire, Faculty of Education, Western New Mexico University. It balances theory with examples of what the authors call “accompaniment,” an engaged and… (more information)

Social Perspectives on Death and Dying (2nd edition)

Jeanette Auger

While death is an inevitable happening in all our lives, the perspectives that we hold about death and dying are socially constructed. This text takes us through the maze of issues, both social and personal, which surround death and dying in our country. The author invites us not to just peek at issues of death and dying but to open our eyes wide and examine how Canadian cultures deal with those concepts. In this new updated edition, Auger challenges us to examine our own thoughts, feelings and… (more information)

Someone To Talk To

Care and Control of the Homeless

Tom Allen

Someone To Talk To is an empassioned account of life on the mean streets of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Homeless and near-homeless persons recount in agonizing detail their experiences of living on the edge in a large Canadian city. They chronicle the grim spirals of poverty, marginalization and despair that propelled them out of their homes, onto the streets and into the ambit of shelters like Triage Emergency Services. Allen analyzes how state policies contribute more to the continuation… (more information)

Transforming the Field

Critical Antiracist and Anti-oppressive Perspectives for the Human Services Practicum

Narda Razack

The theoretical perspective is clearly presented and related to many different aspects of the field–field coordinators, field supervisors, falculty liason and students.... I think this book is a must read for all field coordinators in North America. Karen Schwartz, Carleton University This text focuses on field education in social work. It provides a framework and directions for responding to issues relating to racism and oppression. It also examines how power is embedded in every facet… (more information)

When Teens Abuse Their Parents

Barbara Cottrell

This book is about the what, who, how and why of parent abuse. Cottrell breaks the silence around this seldom mentioned but all too widely occurring problem. In it we hear the stories of parents who have been abused by their children, most of whom are teenagers. We also hear the stories of the children who abuse. But this book is not just an exposé of the problem. It offers advice, guidelines and help for both parents and abusive children. While recommending professional help from counsellors… (more information)

Within Our Reach

Preventing Abuse across the Lifespan

Edited by Christine A. Ateah, Janet Mirwaldt

This volume is the fifth in the Healing and Hurting series co-published with RESOLVE (Research and Education for Solutions to Violence and Abuse). Within Our Reach focuses on lifespan issues associated with violence and abuse and discusses programs, practices and policies to address these issues. Each chapter, co-authored by an academic and a community practitioner, addresses specific issues of violence across the lifespan, from early childhood until late adulthood. These discussions highlight the… (more information)