Understanding Residential Care

Understanding Residential Child Care has been written against the background of a crisis of confidence in residential child care. The system is often seen as facing perpetual problems of abuse, lack of control and crime. This book seeks to both understand and respond to this challenging situation. The book concludes with a chapter suggesting a way forward for residential child care. The core concept explored and applied throughout the book is that of empowerment. It is suggested that this concept can act as an organising framework for re-casting residential child care in a positive manner, so that a quality environment can be provided which can effectively protect and promote the best interests of the child.