Raging hormones and unpredictable mood swings can make navigation into adulthood more than challenging. When puberty strikes, we are often thrown into vicious whirlwinds of euphoria, anger, anxiety, and depression. Confusing and unreliable emotions can color our perspective as we look at the choices available to us. Knowing the risks involved in the choices we face can help us recognize pitfalls and help us make decisions that are not based on faulty assumptions. Dr. Pearson gives us the information we need to do just that. She addresses difficult topics with straightforward confidence and gives teens as well as parents much to think about.

How Childhood Challenging Violent or Aggressive Behaviour (CCVAB) is discussed both historically and more recently in 2017, Thorley and Coates felt they were ‘Grappling with an Enigma’ when trying to explain Child to Parent Violence and Abuse (CPVA) due to the various limitations of definitions created. For example, was there a difference in behaviour displayed between: • CPV - Child to Parent Violence compared to • CPVA- Child to Parent Violence and Abuse or • VCB- Violent Challenging Behaviour or • VCB - Violent Childhood Behaviour or • APVA - Adolescence to Parent Violence and Abuse Alternatively, were definitions developed by professionals depending on which lens they saw the behaviour through? Or were terms used to reflect what families described the behaviour to be? Or perhaps terms varied depending on the age of the child. For this reason, they introduced Childhood Challenging Violent or Aggressive Behaviour (CCVAB) as an umbrella term for all of the previously used acronyms. Adopting CCVAB as a single definition allowed for all children to be included up to the age of 18 years old (as per legal definitions) and onto 25 years old for those with SEND. This definition recognised that many of the behaviours displayed were not ‘towards’ parents directly and could involve property damage, be directed at siblings or be displayed indirectly towards others including peers at school or school staff. The aim of this project set out to critically analyse Policing Childhood Challenging Violent or Aggressive Behaviour: responding to vulnerable families by reflecting on more than 9 months of reported incident data. There is an accepted barrier in developing analysis of Childhood Challenging, Violent or Aggressive Behaviour (CCVAB) due to the ‘nature of the beast’. Generally speaking, families do not, or will not, discuss violence in the home in most situations: be this adult to adult/ child to adult/ adult to child. It is acknowledged the data is an insight only rather than a whole view of CCVAB. This insight is a necessary step for developing a more informed approach to Policing Childhood Challenging Violent or Aggressive Behaviour. At times the officers attending are unable to offer any real intervention due to the age of the child involved, something that is beyond their control. For this reason, the thoughts of Schon come to mind where ‘In the varied topography of professional practice, there is a high, hard ground overlooking a swamp…” or the ‘outsider’ professional lens that CCVAB is seen. The professional lens (such as that of a responding officer) can allow for application of theory, where “On the high ground manageable problems lend themselves to solution through application of research-based theory and technique”. This oversight means there is no mechanism for the police to detail the incident other than refer the family to relevant Child Service agencies. Current and previous evidence from research and working with families experiencing CCVAB details how CCVAB can commence from age 2-3 years and more frequently commences between the ages of 6-9 years than at any other age. This means that at the time of police involvement the escalation of CCVAB behaviours may have been ongoing for more than 6 years, without any intervention, support or professional awareness of the situation. This unreported and unsupported position can leave families ‘In the swampy lowland,’ where ‘messy, confusing problems defy technical solution’.

This open access book explores the expectations surrounding dementia, what it ‘looks like’ and how people have been treated by others. It aims to raise awareness of the different types of dementia, and how they impact the brain, body, and lived experience, including experience of Alzheimer’s disease, Vascular Dementia, Posterior Cortical Atrophy, Frontotemporal Dementia, Semantic Dementia, and Lewy Body Dementia. The co-authors reflect on their experience with informal and formal care, before finishing with a focus on the spectrum of dementia research from clinical trials to user-led research. Throughout the book, co-authors have shared personal stories of how dementia has affected them and people with lived experience of dementia share what they wish people knew about living with the disease. Co-produced by people with lived experience of dementia, academics and health care professionals, this book is an accessible resource about dementia from the perspective of people actively involved in the field and essential reading for healthcare professionals wishing to learn more about the experience of this neuroprogressive condition, as well as policymakers, and members of the public.

It is often assumed that picturebooks are for very young readers because of their emphasis on the illustrations and their scarcity of text; however, there are increasing numbers of picturebooks where the age of the implied reader is questionable. These are picturebooks whose controversial subject matter and unconventional, often unsettling style of illustration challenge the reader, pushing them to question and probe deeper to understand what the book is about. In addition to the book challenging the reader, the reader often challenges the book in an attempt to understand what is being said. These increasingly popular picturebooks work on many different levels; they are truly polysemic and worthy of in-depth analysis. They push the reader to ask questions and in many instances are intrinsically philosophical, often dealing with fundamental life issues. Challenging and Controversial Picturebooks examines these unconventional, non-conformist picturebooks, considering what they are, their audience and their purpose. It also considers: Children’s and adults’ thoughts on these kinds of picturebooks. How challenging and unsettling wordless picturebooks can play with the mind and promote philosophical thought. What creates non-conformity and strangeness ... is it the illustrations and their style, the subject matter or a combination of both? Why certain countries create, promote and accept these picturebooks more than others. Why certain picturebooks are censored and what factors are in play when these decisions are made. The role of publishers in translating and publishing these picturebooks. Children’s creative and critical responses to strange, unsettling and often disturbing visual texts. This inspiring and thought-provoking volume explores the work of a number of highly respected, international picturebook experts and includes an exclusive interview with the legendary Klaus Flugge, Managing Director of Andersen Press, one of the few remaining independent children’s book publishers in England. It is an indispensable reference for all interested in or working with picturebooks, including researchers, students in higher and teacher education, English advisors/inspectors, literacy consultants and classroom teachers.

The study of death has the capacity to bring together a range of policy areas. Yet death is often overlooked within policy debates in the UK and beyond, and within gerontology. Bringing together a range of scholars engaged in policy associated with death, this collection provides a holistic account of how death factors in social policy. Within this, issues covered include inheritance, palliative care, euthanasia, funeral costs, bereavement support, marginalised deaths and disposal practices. At the heart of the book, the volume recognises that the issues identified are likely to intensify and expand over the next twenty years, as death rates continue to rise.