Ian Sinclair is Co-director of the Social Work Research and Development Unit at The University of York. His research interests include attachment theory and the evaluation of social work and social work services. Ian Gibbs is a researcher at the Social Work Research and Development Unit at The University of York. His research interests include Leadership, resources and efficiency in children's homes; quality of care for children in residential and foster care; costs and quality issues in residential care and nursing homes; financial resources available to elderly people. Kate Wilson is Chair of Social Work at the Centre for Social Work. She teaches on the children and families pathway on the Centre's post-graduate programme in social work and on the post-qualifying programme in child care. She has researched and published widely in the fields of therapeutic work and child welfare, including books on social work with couples, social work in a legal context, on non-directive play therapy and journal articles on literature and social work, play therapy in statutory and legal settings, and adoption and fostering.

Once more, the team at the University of York presents us with a rigorous study replete with elements contributing to debate and decision-making.

• 1. Introduction. 2.The Sample: Characteristics and Reasons for Placement. 3. Placements and Destinations. 4. A Kind of Loving: The Children's Accounts. 5. Outcomes. 6. Explanations: Social Worker and Carer Accounts. 7. The Case Studies. 8. Spirals of Interaction. 9. Measuring Success. 10. Foster Children: Characteristics, Personalities and Problems. 11. Birth Families: Characteristics and Patterns of Contact. 12. Foster Families' Characteristics: Reactions to Child and Approach to Main Carer. 13. Social Work Support. 14. Other Forms of Supports. 15. Change and Containment. 16. Summary and Conclusion. Appendix 1: Are our Samples Representative? Appendix 2: Selection of Placements for Interview. References.

Ian Sinclair is Co-director of the Social Work Research and Development Unit at The University of York. His research interests include attachment theory and the evaluation of social work and social work services. Ian Gibbs is a researcher at the Social Work Research and Development Unit at The University of York. His research interests include Leadership, resources and efficiency in children's homes; quality of care for children in residential and foster care; costs and quality issues in residential care and nursing homes; financial resources available to elderly people. Kate Wilson is Chair of Social Work at the Centre for Social Work. She teaches on the children and families pathway on the Centre's post-graduate programme in social work and on the post-qualifying programme in child care. She has researched and published widely in the fields of therapeutic work and child welfare, including books on social work with couples, social work in a legal context, on non-directive play therapy and journal articles on literature and social work, play therapy in statutory and legal settings, and adoption and fostering.

Once more, the team at the University of York presents us with a rigorous study replete with elements contributing to debate and decision-making.

• 1. Introduction. 2.The Sample: Characteristics and Reasons for Placement. 3. Placements and Destinations. 4. A Kind of Loving: The Children's Accounts. 5. Outcomes. 6. Explanations: Social Worker and Carer Accounts. 7. The Case Studies. 8. Spirals of Interaction. 9. Measuring Success. 10. Foster Children: Characteristics, Personalities and Problems. 11. Birth Families: Characteristics and Patterns of Contact. 12. Foster Families' Characteristics: Reactions to Child and Approach to Main Carer. 13. Social Work Support. 14. Other Forms of Supports. 15. Change and Containment. 16. Summary and Conclusion. Appendix 1: Are our Samples Representative? Appendix 2: Selection of Placements for Interview. References.