Introduction

Abstract

In this small book I have attempted to address some of the dilemmas as well as some of the pleasures that social workers thinking about direct work with families will encounter. The next chapter outlines some ideas about families, family pattern, and the differences between families whom social workers may encounter, and families who may never be seen by social workers except in a resource capacity; the second chapter considers some of the particular issues for social workers in undertaking family therapy both in terms of agency context and the family structures of the client populations, which will include both deprivation and fragmentation. This chapter looks in particular at some of the cycle of deprivation research, and indicates famly factors related to the development of resilience in children and their mothers. These two chapters also consider why a family approach makes sense, drawing from systemic thinking and research in related fields.