Situational Analysis: Centerless Systems and Human Service Practices

Bronfenbrenner's ecological model is a conceptual framework that continues to contribute to human service practices. In the current article, the author describes the possibilities for practice made intelligible by drawing from this framework. She then explores White's “Web of Praxis” model as an important extension of this approach, and proceeds to offer Clarke's “Situational Analysis” as another fruitful tool for practitioners who seek relational ways of engaging with clients. With the example of a practice scenario, readers can consider the practical possibilities that open up with the shift in perspective invited by situational analysis.     

Book reviews

The following books are reviewed.

Kateryn parr: the making of a queen, SUSAN E. JAMES, 1999 Aldershot: Ashgate. 480 pp., ISBN 1 84014 683 4, £47.50

Mary Queen of Scots: romance and nation JAYNE ELIZABETH LEWIS, 1998 London: Routledge. 260 pp., ISBN 0 415 11480 2, hardback, £45; ISBN 0 415 11481 0, paperback, £15.99

Exile: a memoir of 1939 BRONKA SCHNEIDER, 1998 (Erika Bourguignon & Barbara Hill Rigney, Eds) Columbus: Ohio State University Press. xxi + 132 pp., ISBN 0 8142 0808 8

Speeches and Trials of the Militant Suffragettes: the Women's Social and Political Union, 1903-18 CHERYL R. JORGENSEN-EARP, 1999 Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses. 400 pp., ISBN 0 8386 3788 4, hardback, £38.00

Women in Britain since 1900 SUE BRULEY, 1999 Basingstoke: Macmillan. vii + 227 pp., ISBN 0 333 61838 6

Working Out Gender: perspectives from labour history MARGARET WALSH (Ed.), 1999 Aldershot: Ashgate. xi + 235 pp., ISBN 0 7546 0058 0

The Contest for Social Science: relations and representations of gender and class EILEEN YEO, 1996 London: Rivers Oram Press. xx + 396 pp., ISBN 1 85489 068 9, £30

Girls and Women, Men and Boys: gender in Taradale, 1886-1930 CAROLINE DALEY, 1999 Auckland: Auckland University Press, viii + 216 pp., ISBN 1 86940 211 1, NZ$39.95

Politics and Society: the Journals of Lady Knightley of Fawsley, 1885-1913 PETER GORDON (Ed.), 1999 Northampton: Northamptonshire Record Society. x + 535 pp., ISBN 0 901275 61 1, hardback, £20

Reading Witchcraft: stories of early English witches MARION GIBSON, 1999 London: Routledge. 242 pp., ISBN 0 415 20646 4, £14.99

Music and Gender PIRKKO MOISALA & BEVERLEY DIAMOND (Eds), 2000 Urbana: University of Illinois Press. xiii + 376 pp., ISBN 0 252 06865 3, $24.95

Parrot Pie for Breakfast: an anthology of women pioneers JANE ROBINSON, 1999 Oxford: Oxford University Press. xiv +177 pp., ISBN 0 19 288020 9, paperback, £8.99

Gender and Power in Britain, 1640-1990 SUSAN KINGSLEY KENT, 1999 London: Routledge. xii + 364 pp., ISBN 0 415 14742 5, £14.99

The Diary of Elizabeth Richards 1798-1825: from the Wexford Rebellion to family life in The Netherlands MARIE DE JONG-IJSSELSTEIN (Ed., with an Introduction by Kevin Whelan), 1999 Hilversum: Verloren. 171 pp., ISBN 90 6550 169 X, Fl. 35.26/Euro 16.00

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: comet of the Enlightenment ISOBEL GRUNDY, 1999 Oxford: Oxford University Press. xxiii + 680 pp., ISBN 1 19 811280 0, £30

Defining the Victorian Nation: class, race, gender and the Reform Act of 1867 CATHERINE HALL, KEITH MCCLELLAND & JANE RENDALL, 2000 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. xiii + 303 pp., ISBN 0 521 57653 9     

‘Bigger than our friendship’: personal and political passions in the life of Anna Rochester, 1880–1966

This article explores the personal and professional life of Anna Rochester, Marxist economist and active member of the American Communist Party. Her political passions are intricately woven with the life and work of her romantic partner, Grace Hutchins, and together, they shared an ideological journey from Christianity to communism. While this personal relationship provided the emotional support central in sustaining a public career, their partnership was framed by strong allegiances to shared values and politics. In order to understand the merging of the personal and political arenas in Rochester's life, it is important to focus on the material conditions of Old Left organizational membership that encouraged a subordination of personal relationship to something, as Rochester believed, ‘bigger than our friendship’.     

Forensic Mental Health Clinical Evaluation: An Analysis of Interstate and Intersystemic Differences

Forensic mental health evaluation systems have undergone major changes during the past two decades, and the variability of service delivery systems across states is significant. We compared assessments of competence to stand trial and criminal responsibility in three states with different systems for forensic mental health evaluations: Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia. Although all three states use comparable legal criteria to judge competence and criminal responsibility, we found large, statistically significant differences among the states in the proportion of defendants referred for evaluation who were assessed as incompetent or not criminally responsible. In addition, significant differences were found in the diagnostic and offense categories of defendants referred for evaluation. Our findings suggest that the structure of a system for providing forensic evaluation services may significantly affect both the group of individuals referred for evaluation as well as evaluation outcome.     

FROM RIGHTS TO RESPONSIBILITIES FOR PARENTS

Few pieces of legislation in recent years have been heralded with such enthusiasm as the Children Act 1989, in force in England and Wales as of October 14, 1991. This article looks at the philosophy and principles underpinning this radical landmark in family law, outlines the new provisions in both public and private child care issues, and considers some of the implications and dilemmas for social workers, lawyers, and the courts.