Book review: Understanding practice: perspectives on activity and context. Seth Chaiklin and Jean Lave Eds). Cambridge University Press, New York, 1993. No. of pages 414. ISBN 0-0-521-3926-2. Price US $59.95 (Hardback).
✍ Scribed by King Beach
- Book ID
- 101278418
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 66 KB
- Volume
- 12
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0888-4080
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
problems. While the material in his book is relevant to practitioners, and was most probably written with them in mind, it is not presented in a way that is most meaningful for them. This is one of the strengths of Ney's book, since every chapter begins with a `signposting' summary, and concludes with a list of recommendations for practice.
Both books contain material that will be of use to practitioners, but the breadth and depth of Ney's coverage is more impressive. In trying to present a concise summary (itself a noble aim), if feels like Mapes has in fact blurred several issues, and a rather alarmist tone creeps in to some sections of his book ± possibly the result of trying to simplify what are very complex issues. Although both books aim to cover similar territory, Ney's book is superior in content, accessibility, and advice to practitioners. For professionals and students involved in child sexual abuse investigations True and False Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse provides a wealth of information aimed to make their judgements better informed, if not easier.