Effective Participatory Practice

In 1989, New Zealand formalized the social work trend toward involving the family in child protection decision-making processes. Central to this legislation is the Family Group Conference, based on indigenous Maori decision-making practices. Connolly (social work, U. of Canterbury, New Zealand) and McKenzie (community and family studies, U. of Otago, New Zealand) discuss the social construction of family decision-making, the country's experience with this empowering model, international adaptations, and the necessity of a sound theoretical basis--which they provide in their Effective Participatory Practice model exemplified in two case studies. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR