Read more
Successive UK governments have given an ever-higher profile to the quality of parenting, and to the importance of supporting and educating parents. However, disabled parents have often been absent from these mainstream debates. This book will begin and inform this debate and challenge the policymakers' oversight in this area. The 1990s saw important changes in the policy and practice of providing welfare to disabled people, and disabled people themselves have demanded that assistance and support be controlled by them, rather than provided by welfare bureaucracies. The ways in which this support is provided for disabled people in parenting roles has remained unexplored - until now. This book reports on the first substantial UK study of parenting, disability and mental health. It examines the views of parents and children and covers a broad spectrum of issues facing disabled parents and their families.
List of contents
Situating parenting, disability and mental health; Methods; The involvement of children in "caring" and domestic work - new insights; Mainstream needs and social barriers - the role of formal and informal support; Disability, parenting and the lifecourse - dimensions of change; Parenting and disability - individuals, families and relationships; Conclusions.
About the author
Richard Olsen is a Research Fellow at the Nuffield Community Care Studies Unit, University of Leicester. Parenting and disability, including issues around 'young caring', are his main research interests. Harriet Clarke is a Lecturer in Psychology and Social Work in the Institute of Applied Social Studies at the University of Birmingham. Her research interests include mental health and parenting.
Summary
This book reports on the first substantial UK study of parenting, disability and mental health. It examines the views of parents and children in 75 families. Covering a broad spectrum of issues facing disabled parents and their families, it provides a comprehensive review of relevant policy issues.
