General overview: For professionals working with children, this book provides guidelines to working with children affected by trauma and family violence. It charts in detail the impact of trauma on children and provides suggestions for professionals to better assess, intervene and assist traumatised young people.

Discussion: Based on contemporary research and policy development, the book offers guidance for professionals working with traumatised children, defined as young people who have experienced neglect, physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse or children who have been harmed through witnessing the ill treatment of another person. It gives a detailed analysis of trauma and its impact on children. Whilst it considers incidental traumatic events, it explores the impact of relentlessly stressful and traumatic circumstances on children.

When identifying abuse, the authors suggest that a systematic approach to assessment and analysis of families where children may be experiencing trauma will lead to fuller understanding of the situation. In turn this will lead to well planned and therefore more successful interventions into families.

The authors offer guidelines to further assist children after the initial process of identification of abuse is completed. These guidelines are based in the multi-faceted approach detailed by the British Department of Health’s, ‘Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families’. The authors provide a framework that acknowledges that traumatised children may require a variety of different interventions and ongoing support, not just ‘risk assessment’ and protection.

The book is the latest addition in the series from the United Kingdom ‘Best Practice in Working With Children.’ Edited by Brigid Daniel, Professor of Social work at Stirling University, the text is a collaborative effort between Arnon Bentovim, Honorary Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Antony Cox, Emeritus Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Lisa Bingley and Stephen Pizzey, both social work professionals.