Christine Farrell – författare

Voluntary work is sometimes praised, sometimes criticised, but was seldom the subject of objective evaluation. Given the importance of the voluntary sector in the social services at the time, the lack of systematic research into its performance was cause for concern. Originally published in 1975, the particular value of this study was twofold: first it provided a detailed and vivid picture of the work of one section of the volunteer movement – young volunteers working with the elderly; second it examined the wider issue of how voluntary work can be evaluated. The particular volunteers studied were organised through Task Force, a London based agency, but both the substantive and research issues discussed had a far wider relevance. A key part of the study explored over a period of twelve months, the development of relationships between a group of old people and the volunteers allocated to them. The authors established a new method of assessing success in these relationships. They then explored possible reasons for the successes and failures in the relationships they studied. They suggest possible changes in the organisation of the work which might help to increase the success rate of volunteer agencies.

The book will be of interest to anyone concerned about the place of voluntary work in our society. At the time it would have been of special importance to staff and members of organisations involved in voluntary social service, to social workers and social administrators, and to those who were training to join their ranks.

The book is based on an eighteen-month field study of Task Force; Roger Hadley and Adrian Webb directed the research and Christine Farrell was the research officer for the project.

Voluntary work is sometimes praised, sometimes criticised, but was seldom the subject of objective evaluation. Given the importance of the voluntary sector in the social services at the time, the lack of systematic research into its performance was cause for concern. Originally published in 1975, the particular value of this study was twofold: first it provided a detailed and vivid picture of the work of one section of the volunteer movement – young volunteers working with the elderly; second it examined the wider issue of how voluntary work can be evaluated. The particular volunteers studied were organised through Task Force, a London based agency, but both the substantive and research issues discussed had a far wider relevance. A key part of the study explored over a period of twelve months, the development of relationships between a group of old people and the volunteers allocated to them. The authors established a new method of assessing success in these relationships. They then explored possible reasons for the successes and failures in the relationships they studied. They suggest possible changes in the organisation of the work which might help to increase the success rate of volunteer agencies.

The book will be of interest to anyone concerned about the place of voluntary work in our society. At the time it would have been of special importance to staff and members of organisations involved in voluntary social service, to social workers and social administrators, and to those who were training to join their ranks.

The book is based on an eighteen-month field study of Task Force; Roger Hadley and Adrian Webb directed the research and Christine Farrell was the research officer for the project.

Based on over 1500 interviews with a national random sample of 16- to 19-year-olds in 1974–5, originally published in 1978, My Mother Said… examines the sources of information encountered by young people during their early years which helped or hindered them in their acquisition of knowledge about sex and birth control.

The study explores teenage patterns of sexual behaviour and contraceptive practice and looks at the way in which learning and sexual behaviour are related. Interviews were also conducted with over 300 parents of the teenagers, their attitudes to and experiences of the provision of sex-related information being discussed and described in detail. The author’s findings suggest that, although sex education from parents and in schools had improved over the previous ten years, there was still considerable room for changes in attitude and education. By putting the young people’s views and experiences in perspective, the book would help teachers, parents and others concerned to develop sex education along lines which would meet the needs of the young at the time.