Book News

You Don’t Really Know Me: WhyMothers and Daughters Fight andHow Both Can WinT. ApterLondon: W.W. Norton & Co., 2005.

pp. 256. £8.99 (pb). ISBN: 0-393-

32710-8.

As the title suggests, the core preoccu-

pation of this book is how best to

understand teenage daughters� battleswith their mothers, and more specifi-

cally how to see them as an opportunity

for better understanding and closeness

between both.

Drawing on research conducted over

two decades with mothers and their

daughters, the author gives a multi-

tude of vivid and diverse examples,

seen from both mothers and daugh-

ters� perspectives. �Fights� between

both are shown to be a necessary

and integral component of negotiating

adolescence, a process by which the

developing adolescent learns to define

their own identity. Wise, practical

advice on the part of the author is

readily interposed with examples

drawn from mother-daughter interac-

tions, looking at �how to make best use

of arguments�: avoiding unhelpful

escalation; helping to take the sting

out of potentially hurtful scenarios;

and trying instead to work towards

understanding the underlying commu-

nication on both sides.

Although never stated explicitly, my

impression was that, although it pro-

vided a number of interesting clinical

insights, this is a book written mainly

for teenage daughters and their moth-

ers (and particularly those who are

struggling in their relationship to-

gether). As such I found it to be a

really warm, and rich read. My main

criticism, if any, would be a tendency

on the author’s part to somewhat min-

imise the importance of other signifi-

cant relationships in a teenage girl’s

life, notably with their peers and

father. The relationship with their

mother seemed to be viewed as taking

complete precedence.

Louise Richards

Watford Peace Centre Child and

Family Clinic

Motivation, Engagement andEducational Performance:International Perspectives on theContext for LearningJ.G. Elliott, N.R. Hufton, W. Willis &L. IllushinBasingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan,

2005. pp. 240. £50.00 (hb). ISBN:

0-333-92059-7.

Lack of motivation is a frequent char-

acteristic of children seen in CAMHS

clinics. Most research has focused on

factors that distinguish between

students with high and low motivation.

This book provides a welcome reminder

that societal and cultural factors may

be more important. The authors inter-

viewed large numbers of students,

parents and teachers in Sunderland,

UK, Eastern Kentucky, USA, and

St Petersburg, Russia.

Problem behaviour in school was

most prevalent in Kentucky, slightly

less prevalent in Sunderland, and very

rare indeed in the mixed ability clas-

ses in St. Petersburg. Three things

help to explain the better behaviour

and educational progress in St. Peters-

burg. First, Russian teachers keep the

same class for several years, and their

strong personal relations with pupils

extended to parents. Second, in spite

of - or because of - higher academic

demands and much more homework

in Russia, pupils liked school more.

Third, in contrast to St Petersburg,

�Kentucky (and Sunderland) teachers

tended to see praise as the default

response, even when this was not

merited� (p.227).The book has a clear structure with

a useful index and references. An

excellent review of research on

achievement motivation is followed by

descriptions of each education and

cultural system and the demands they

make on pupils. The authors rightly

criticise simplistic solutions to com-

plex problems by governments in Eng-

land and the USA, but also recognise

the tensions facing Russian schools

and students at a time of political

upheaval. Strongly recommended for

teachers, and clinicians who want to

see beyond individual and family dif-

ferences.

David Galloway

University of Durham

Disorganised ChildrenM.S. Stein & U. ChowduryLondon: Jessica Kingsley, 2006. pp.

344. £16.99 (pb). ISBN: 1-843-10-148-3.

The concept that there might be a group

of children who are �disorganised�, i.e.

who have mild neurodevelopmental

problems that do not reach diagnostic

criteria in any category, yet whose

problems skirt the boundaries of

several, is an important one with much

face validity for clinicians. This is what

clinicians in earlier decades were

clearly referring to when talking about

Minimal Brain Damage and in my view

the authors take a bold but pragmatic

step forward in revisiting this. This is an

important group of children whose

patchy difficulties may make it hard

for parents and teachers to give their

behaviour the benefit of the doubt.

While well constructed on the whole,

the book also had some difficulties. It is

organised in four parts dealing with

child development, neurodevelopmental

problems, and the concept of �Disor-

ganised Children� and, lastly, how the

various CAMHS professionals might

help. Unfortunately, the first chapter

was rather a tedious list of the develop-

mental milestones familiar to all junior

doctors, whereas other chapters in part

one were fascinating accounts of

specific aspects of neurodevelopment.

Part two read like a textbook of child

psychiatry. Although the target audi-

ence is purportedly �parents and pro-

fessionals�, I suspect most parents who

do not have an education in child men-

tal health would be lost with some of the

technical language. I think the book

could have done without this section,

with the exception of the chapters that

specifically address diagnostic overlap

such as the one on DAMP.

The book comes into its own with part

three onDisorganisedChildren,which is

clearly written with parents in mind and

makes liberal use of diagrams and anal-

ogies. Theseworkedverywell andoffered

a lively and sympathetic discussion of

how the minds of these children might

work. Part four is also parent-friendly

and provides an interesting account of

how the differentmembers of amultidis-

ciplinary CAMH team might deal with

these kinds of developmental problems.

Sadly, I suspectmany parentswould not

get this far in their reading.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Volume 12, No. 4, 2007, pp 198–199

� 2007 Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry.Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA