Child and Adolescent Wellbeing and Violence Prevention in Schools

This is a vibrant text, offering an impressive diversity of cultures and voices, including children's and young people's voices, all housed within the broad themes of wellbeing and violence. There is also a strong thematic diversity across the book on many emerging themes regarding wellbeing. This is a really valuable resource for students, researchers and practitioners across a wide range of disciplines and professions engaging with the needs of children and especially vulnerable children

Dr. Paul Downes, Associate Professor of Education (Psychology), Dublin City University, Ireland, Member of European Commission's Network of Experts on the Social Aspects of Education and Training (NESET II) Coordinating Committee

Mental health difficulties among youth are widespread and on the increase so this is a timely book. Phillip Slee, Grace Skrzypiec and Carmel Cefai, the editors of Child and Adolescent Well-being and Violence Prevention in Schools, are acknowledged experts in the field and have built on this knowledge to create an original and well-structured book that identifies distinct themes, each with an important perspective to offer. The contributors do not shy away from the immensity of the topic but rather provide new evidence for interventions that have been shown to be successful at different levels - individual, classroom, whole school, community and in the wider political arena - in resolving the underlying causes of mental distress and violence during childhood and adolescence. The fact that the authors come from a range of disciplines and from different cultural contexts greatly enhances the strength of this book and deepens the reader’s insight into the structures and systems that promote well-being rather than self-destruction and violence.

A strong sense of optimism pervades Child and Adolescent Well-being and Violence Prevention in Schools through the commitment of the authors to create schools where the child’s voice is heard, to empower members of school, the community and the wider society to make critical changes that will enhance the well-being of our young people and, most crucially, to give all children the right and strength to continue this process once they become adults.

This book will inspire parents, teachers, academics, educational psychologists, criminologists, social workers and politicians and all those involved with youth to collaborate in order to create better opportunities for young people across the world.

Helen Cowie, University of Surrey