John Stewart, Child Guidance in Britain, 1918-1955

This monograph is the latest addition to the impressive series Studies for the Society for the Social History of Medicine. Child guidance is an eminently suitable topic for inclusion because it raises questions that touch on many strands of the historiography dealing with medicine, psychiatry, psychology, education, childhood, child welfare, and the development of the welfare state. The book will be of interest to academics and students from any number of disciplines. Yet while many scholars have already acknowledged the importance of child guidance this is the first really comprehensive study of the movement, its impact and its legacy over many decades. Stewart's accessible style provides a useful introduction and overview for those unfamiliar with the subject while also offering novel, and sometimes provocative, conclusions that will encourage debate with expert readers. Stewart begins with the pre-history of child guidance and contextualises its evolution with reference not just to developments in psychiatry and psychology, but broad social, economic and political trends before and after the creation of the welfare state. Attention is also given to professional cultures and religious influences that are shown to both inform and be revealed by contentious aspects of child guidance practice. Drawing on earlier key contributions by Harry Hendrick, Nikolas Rose and David Armstrong, Stewart persuasively argues that ‘child guidance was seen not simply as an end in itself. Rather, it was an important constituent of a wider concern for political and social stability as well as a mechanism for promoting the aspirations of the professions involved’ (p. 4). The book benefits throughout from such well-articulated theoretical underpinnings but these concerns are also balanced by a wealth of interesting detail and an engaging narrative. Stewart draws on rich archival material to trace the development of clinics (from just one in 1927 to more than 300 in the 1950s) and their contested operation

Historiography · Inclusion (mineral · Library science · Political science · Politics · Psychoanalysis · Social science · Sociology · State (computer science · Subject (documents · Welfare · Welfare state · Historical Psychiatry and Medical Practices · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Medical History and Research · Psychology · Law