Working with Families of the Poor » (2nd Edition)

Patricia Minuchin, PhD, is codirector of Family Studies, Inc., Professor Emeritus at Temple University, and currently associated with the Minuchin Center for the Family. Dr. Minuchin has taught at Tufts University and served as Senior Research Associate at Bank Street College. A developmental psychologist, trained in clinical psychology, her publications have focused on the growth and functioning of children in the context of the family, the school, and under the conditions created by poverty, foster placements, and family disorganization.

Jorge Colapinto, LPsych, LMFT, is a family therapist and a consultant to human service organizations in the development and implementation of systemic models of service delivery. He has developed training curricula and practice materials for the Administration for Children's Services of New York City and other service agencies. He has been on the faculties of the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic, Family Studies, Inc., and the Ackerman Institute for the Family, where he directed the foster care project.

Salvador Minuchin, MD, is currently Director of Family Studies, Inc., and is associated with the Minuchin Center for the Family. Dr. Minuchin was formerly Director of the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic and Professor of Child Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania. A major figure in the field of family therapy, he has published widely on family theory, technique, and practice.

Now in a substantially revised second edition, this widely adopted text and practical guidebook presents the fundamentals of family-based intervention with clients struggling with chronic poverty-related crises and life stressors. Grounded in Salvador Minuchin's influential systemic model and the extensive experience of all three highly regarded authors, the book illustrates innovative ways for professionals within substance abuse, foster care, and mental health contexts to build collaboration with families and other helpers, and to elicit families' strengths. The second edition features many new case examples and includes discussions of exemplary programs. It also gives increased attention to key factors that make agencies effective and enable them to maintain a family focus over time.

Booknews

Arguing that often services for poor urban families or individuals in those families are fragmented and ineffective, the authors present a systems-oriented and family-centered approach to social services. After chapters discussing how to work within current systems and how to attempt change in those systems, the authors focus on interventions in such areas as foster care, substance abuse and pregnancy programs, residential centers, psychiatric wards, and home-based services. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.