Book review of: Newnes, C. & Radcliffe, N. ( 2006). Making and Breaking Children's Lives. UK: PCCS Books

The central message of this book is that distressed children who display distressing behaviour and their families are often involved with significant psychosocial challenges like poverty, unemployment, domestic violence, child abuse, inadequate educational resources, neighbourhood crime and other adversities. These children and families should be helped through thoughtful psychosocial interventions and community development initiatives which address their unique needs and requirements, not by diagnosing children with neurobiological disorders of questionable validity (like ADHD) and medicating them with drugs (like Ritalin).