Family Studies

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The number of children labelled ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) has been on the increase since the term entered common medical parlance thirty years ago. Through a deeply personal narrative and an analysis of Michel Foucault’s theories on truth, power and knowledge, The Ancient Mariner Speaks argues that the ADHD label has contributed to the pathologizing of children’s, particularly boys’, behaviour and the further marginalization and exclusion, rather than inclusion… (more information)

Divorced Fathers

Children’s Needs and Parental Responsibilities

Edward Kruk

Once mainly breadwinners and disciplinarians, fathers are becoming increasingly involved and invested in their children’s lives. Edward Kruk examines how this changing role has affected fathers’ experiences of divorce and the loss of children that too often follows. This book offers a glimpse into the emotional loss that fathers suffer and their perspectives on what is best for their children in the divorce transition. Ultimately, Kruk argues, children benefit most from the love and… (more information)

My Baby Rides the Short Bus

The Unabashedly Human Experience of Raising Kids with Disabilities

Edited by Yantra Bertelli, Jennifer Silverman, Sarah Talbot

In lives where there is a new diagnosis or drama every day, the stories in this collection provide parents of “special needs” kids with a welcome chuckle, a rock to stand on, and a moment of reality held far enough from the heart to see clearly. Featuring works by “alternative” parents who have attempted to move away from mainstream thought—or remove its influence altogether—this anthology, taken as a whole, carefully considers the implications of parenting while… (more information)

Maternity Rolls

Pregnancy, Childbirth and Disability

Heather Kuttai

Heather Kuttai is a 40-year-old white, heterosexual woman. She is married and is the mother of two children. Living in a quiet, middle-class neighbourhood, her life is, in many ways, seemingly the quintessential picture of what many consider to be traditional. However, her life is not as conventional as it appears: she is a paraplegic and uses a wheelchair for mobility. Her disability dramatically changes the picture. Much of the writing about the experiences of women and mothers excludes the stories… (more information)

About Canada: Childcare

Martha Friendly, Susan Prentice

In Canada, early childhood education and care includes childcare programs, kindergartens and nursery schools. When these programs are well-designed, they support children’s development and accommodate parents who work or study. About Canada: Childcare answers questions about early childhood education and childcare (ECEC) in Canada. Why doesn’t Canada have an ECEC system, even though other countries do? Why is ECEC so important? What is missing in Canada’s ECEC landscape and why… (more information)

In the Other Room

Entering the Culture of Motherhood

Fiona Nelson

Becoming a mother impacts every aspect of a woman’s life. Often, it is other mothers with whom a new mother is able to articulate, debate and negotiate dimensions of her mothering experiences, from the physical/social aspects of pregnancy, through the daily work of new mothering, to the competing cultural constructions of motherhood. A diverse group of first-time mothers discussed and examined their experiences with what many have called “the mommies’ club.” Through interactions… (more information)

Walking This Path Together

Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppressive Child Welfare Practice

Edited by Jeannine Carrière, Susan Strega

This book offers students and experienced practitioners alike the opportunity to explore a range of visions, strategies and concrete skills for anti-racist and anti-oppressive child welfare practice. Significant topics and emerging practice approaches are addressed by contributors who share a passionate commitment to the transformation of child welfare through socially just practices. The book challenges the current Anglo-American child welfare paradigm by centring Indigenous perspectives and voices… (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)

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)

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)

Passing Through

End-of-Life Decisions for Lesbians and Gay Men

Jeanette Auger

In June 2001, Nova Scotia became the third province to pass legislation that permits same-sex couples to legally register their relationship in order to benefit from similar legal obligations as common-law heterosexual couples. Yet despite this new legislation’s aim to advance equal rights, end-of-life decisions for gays and lesbians remain difficult. Jeannette Auger examines how closeted relationships and the history of discrimination have led many partners to dismiss making decisions about… (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)

Changing Child Care

Five Decades of Child Care Advocacy and Policy in Canada

Edited by Susan Prentice

Most parents of young children need child care services to help them work or study. Yet the licensed child care system has space for less than one in ten children and is generally unaffordable for most parents. Quality, accessibility and affordability vary wildly within and between provinces and territories. While Quebec has a 5-a-day child care system, the rest of the country leaves child care to the family and the market. When and why do governments implement progressive child care policies? The… (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)

Mothering for the State

The Paradox of Fostering

Baukje (Bo) Miedema

Foster care is the most important component of child welfare services in Canada. Currently, foster care services are portrayed negatively with a continuous stream of stories in the media about poor foster care services. But who are foster care givers and what happens to a family when a foster child enters their family? Baukje (Bo) Miedema’s research reveals that the most important care giver in foster care is the foster mother. Why do these women care for seriously traumatized children on… (more information)

Feminism and Families

Critical Policies and Changing Practices

Edited by Meg Luxton

The absence of a specific “family politics” has ceded an important political space to anti-feminist movements and weakened the capacity of the feminist movement to intervene effectively in the debates and struggles of the current period. Despite significant changes in family, domestic and interpersonal relations, the prevailing ideology of the heterosexual nuclear family as the norm still shapes social, economic and legal practices. This book argues for feminist debates in all areas… (more information)

Child and Family Policies

Strategies, Struggles and Options

Edited by Jane Pulkingham, Gordon Ternowetsky

The papers in this collection address the changing context of child and family policies which have been ushered in by the Liberal government’s Social Security Review (SSR). The contributions analyze the implications of government policy shifts showing how they are particularly devastating for children of low income, welfare, first nations and single parent families. They suggest policy options and some directions that advocacy groups might take in developing a politics of influence. (more information)

Divorce and Disengagement

Patterns of Fatherhood Within and Beyond Marriage