Promoting Family Wellness and Preventing Child Maltreatment: Fundamentals for Thinking and Action

Michael Ungar is an associate professor in the Maritime School of Social
Work, Dalhousie University, and a marriage and family therapist
specializing in work with high-risk youth. His upcoming book is titled
Playing at Being Bad: The Hidden Resilience of

Academics, students, child-welfare staff, allied professionals, and
policymakers who want to understand and implement effective programming
to address child maltreatment will find in this edited volume a wealth
of information of particular relevance to the Canadian context. Set in
an ecological frame, each chapter addresses the risk factors related to
child maltreatment and the interventions required to promote family
wellness. As the editors explain in their introduction, “Without
serious consideration of implementation, diffusion, and replication
issues, most of what we learn about best practices with vulnerable
children and families will remain marginal to child wellness practice.
Our hope is to help translate good ideas into practical and effective
policies.” The editors, who themselves make substantial contributions
to the book, cover the theoretical realm of the context, values, and
history of child maltreatment, as well as the messy business of
implementing programs.

Chapters covering innovations in programs across Canada, including a
chapter devoted to Aboriginal communities, ensure a broad perspective on
how child maltreatment is addressed through positive efforts to build
family competence. In addition to a thorough review of the literature,
each chapter highlights the author’s own struggles to put into
practice well-established theory. Findings from a coast-to-coast
qualitative study, which interviewed a range of stakeholders in the
field of child welfare, provide another interesting aspect of the book,
with results of the study integrated into most chapters. Combined, these
multiple methods of investigation and application add authority and
authenticity to the writing, grounding theory in the practical and
balancing the expertise of academics and policymakers with the actual
experiences of those most affected by the service delivery system.