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From the very
inception of Alberta as a newly established province, the emergence
of children’s mental health services has been a tale of hope and
disappointment, a saga of courage and conviction to overcome almost
insurmountable odds. Evolving from a focus on juvenile delinquency,
meager services weathered depressions, eugenics, world wars,
epidemics and oil crises in the struggle to help some of our
province’s most vulnerable children and families.
In Winter’s
Children, Germaine Dechant takes you through 100 developmental
years of children’s mental health services in Alberta. The first
book of its kind, it provides a comprehensive look at the triumphs
and tragedies, enlightened approaches, as well as lack of commitment
to action that have shaped the field of children’s mental health to
this day. A critical examination of historic medical, social,
economic and political environments, Winter’s Children is
required reading for students, medical, psychology and social work
practitioners, nurses, teachers, policy makers and members of the
general public seeking a better understanding of the powerful forces
that continue to shape this important area of child health.
This concise and
rewarding read is not only a valuable reference, but an engaging
account of children’s lives in the first century of Alberta as a
province.
© 2006, 181 pp.,
softcover |
