Working with Families of African Caribbean Origin

Reviews / Votes

Arnold's book reminds us of these ideas and of the importance for probation practitioners of listening to those they supervise, to take a developmental history and to try to really understand where their clients are coming from. I believe that this book is not only useful for working with people of African Caribbean origin but with all those for whom circumstances have led to traumatic ruptures of their closest relationships. -- Probation Journal (...) provide detailed and honest accounts of the difficulties that resulted from these broken attachments and the impact that this had on their lives. This book would be an interesting read for those students and practitioners working with children of an African Caribbean origin to gain a greater understanding into the traumatic effects that migration can have. The book highlights the importance of attachment theory and demonstrates the wider applicability of this in respect to family loss and its long term effects. -- Play for Life This is a well written, reflective and insightful reference book with some candid, often traumatic accounts of separation and loss. -- Young Minds Magazine I found this book both fascinating and poignant. Everyone working with African Caribbean families or refugee and migrant children would benefit from absorbing its fascinating and eye-opening contents. -- Therapy Today This is a timely book, well written and highlighting an often ignored causal factor from a psychological perspective. The understanding of loss and separation and the intergenerational transportation of trauma are critical to an understanding of potential solutions to the apparent disproportionately high numbers of African Caribbean men and women in mental health services. The strength of the book lies in the compelling combination of well articulated individual stories with extensive research evidence and theory. Elaine Arnold contributes fresh ideas and perspectives to the field of race and mental health. -- Hari Sewell, Director of HS Consultancy, UK and author of Working with Ethnicity, Race and Culture in Mental Health I celebrate the arrival of this book because it is a testimony to the resilience of the human spirit surviving against sometimes terrible odds. It links the socio-historical dimensions of Caribbean family life with the importance of a psychological underpinning of attachment and commitment of family members to one another, for good mental health and a sense of identity. Dr. Arnold gives testimony to the many ways in which families struggled to keep connections in the face of long absences and also looks at the cost for many mothers and children of their separation from one another. -- From the Foreword by Gill Gorell Barnes, Honorary Senior Lecturer, Tavistock Clinic, UK and consultant family therapist