FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN WITH EMOTIONAL DISORDERS - A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

This review identifies and explores a body of literature that correlat es a child's emotional or behavioral problems with some aspect of the family and a body of literature that considers a wider ecological pers pective. This literature is examined in relation to two questions: (1) What do we know about families with children with emotional disorders ? and (2) How does that information help us design social policy and s ocial work interventions for these families and their children? The ho pe for social work research and practice, as well as program and polic y development, lies in expanding the ecological work that considers fa ctors related to children's referral for mental health services, paren ts' perspectives of what they expect from mental health services, and parents' perspectives of their experiences and needs in relation to th eir child with emotional or behavioral problems.