Families in distress : public, private, and civic responses /

Bush (University of Chicago Children's Research Project) presents a cogent, scholarly argument that clarifies and extends the current debate on the proper roles of the private and public sectors in social welfare activities. Bush's thesis is that the expansion of formal social welfare organizations has crowded out direct civic action, with adverse consequences for families in trouble. Focusing on agencies' responses to troubled families in Illinois, Bush uses extensive personal interviews and analysis of public documents to provide a history of helping agencies (Part 1) and to evaluate the work of contemporary agencies in regard to responsiveness, racial discrimination and efforts with difficult children (Part 2). In Part 3, he places the problem of troubled families within a broader context, and argues for a structural rather than psychological approach. Good footnotes with references, an extensive bibliography from the social sciences and human services, and an adequate subject/author index. Upper-division undergraduates and above. -S. Cable, University of Tennessee at Knoxville