Parenting UK, in partnership with colleagues at the Family and Parenting Institute, has in its Resource Centre over a thousand books, parenting programmes and research findings. This page lists some of the most frequently consulted, offering a broad base for those starting out in parenting support.

Visit our Publications page for a list of our publications and some free downloads.

Helen Barrett (2003)
Parenting Programmes for Families at Risk: A source book
London: National Family and Parenting Institute. 242 pages.
ISBN: 1903615267
Families at risk of parenting difficulties are defined in broad terms as families in all kinds of situations of adversity. The characteristics of these families are explored and the approaches used in parenting programmes examined. A compilation of systematic reviews - published between 1995 and 2003 - of parenting support, education and training programmes for families at risk is presented and details of individual programmes given. Guidance is offered about some of the basic procedures involved in programme evaluation and suggestions made about how the process of evaluation could be developed into a more cost-effective tool to inform decision-making.

Harriet Becher and Fatima Husain (2003)
Supporting Minority Ethnic Families: South Asian Hindus and Muslims in Britain: developments in family support
London: National Family and Parenting Institute. 104 pages.
ISBN: 1903615240
A synthesis of findings from previous research which has recognised that families from minority ethnic communities have, in some respects, different approaches to parenting and different needs than those from the ethnic majority. In addition individuals and families from these communities are less likely to access preventative or universal services due to a range of barriers and a lack of trust in the current level of provision. As a result minority ethnic familes experience inequalities in relation to accessing family and parenting services. The report looks in detail at British South Asian and Hindu families who comprise the largest South Asian communities in Britain. It examines the barriers that exist which discourage parents from accessing services and provides examples of best practice inititatives in Britain and overseas.

Richard Bowlby (2001)
Attachment: Three educational videos
London: Richard Bowlby
A video produced by the son of John Bowlby for use as a training tool for people working with families. Looks at attachment and the origins of social and antisocial behaviour; attachment and brain development, and disrupted attachment and violence. Includes sections on behaviour in school, the interaction between genes and experience, the development of empathy, the effects of joy and laughter, resilience, stress, the effects of an abusive childhood, and feelings of revenge and depression. The video is available free, click on the link above.

Department for Education and Skills (2004)
Every Child Matters: Change for Children: working with voluntary and community organisations to deliver change for children and young people
Nottingham: Department for Education and Skills. 38 pages.
ISBN: 1844783669
This publication sets out how government will work towards ensuring that voluntary and community organisations can be part of the vision set out in Every Child Matters and the long-term process of transformation that will lead to its achievement. It is intended for voluntary and community organisations and for local authorities and other public sector partners at regional and local level. Includes annexes and glossary.

Department for Education and Skills (2006)
Review of capacity in the parenting support market: Final report
London: Price Waterhouse Coopers. 72 pages.
Research into the key barriers to development within the parenting support market in England, including attracting new providers into the market, and encouraging existing providers to expand. Particularly focused on the support offered in children's centres and extended schools. Provides recommendations for central Government regarding funding, training and guidance, and setting performance targets, and local Government regarding local needs assessments and strategies; improving commissioning; increased local involvement; more joined-up and partnership working; simplifying and consolidating funding flows; improved monitoring, and improved training. Also explores the options of charging certain parents for certain services in certain situations, and encouraging employers to fund/offer services to their employees.

Department for Education and Skills (2006)
Parenting support: Guidance for local authorities in England October 2006
London: Department for Education and Skills. 36 pages.
This guidance aims to support local authorities and children's trusts in their development of a continuum of support for parents. It is relevant to Local Authority Chief Executives, Directors of Children's Services, those involved in the development of Children and Young People's Plans and those responsible for the process of commissioning and/or the delivery of services for parents, including private sector providers. It begins with a summary of what we know about the impact of parenting on outcomes for children and an overview of the policy context. It sets out the case for a strategic approach in designing and delivering parenting support services, including the Commissioners' Toolkit, and explores the concept of continuum support. Finally it discusses the plans the Government has for taking the parenting agenda forward.

Department for Education and Skills (2007)
Every Parent Matters
Nottingham: Department for Education and Skills. 53 pages.
Government overview of current services for parents, gaps and potential developments. Key issues for parents of babies and toddlers, school age children, and adolescents. Plans for investment in strategic services: local support; advice and information services; and workforce development. Plans for developing the engagement of parents in services. Implications of plans for families, local authorities, and practitioners.

Charles Desforges and Alberto Abouchaar (2003)
The impact of parental involvement, parental support and family education on pupil achievement and adjustment: A literature review
Nottingham: Department for Education and Skills. 102 pages.
ISBN: 1841859990
Report of a literature review to establish research findings on the relationship between parental involvement, parental support and family education on pupil achievement and adjustment in schools. Includes chapters on ethnicity, parental involvement and pupil achievement; differences between parents in levels of involvement; parent/school links; and adult and community education and parent training programmes. A major finding is that parental involvement in the form of 'at-home good parenting' has a significant positive effect on children's achievement and adjustment even after all other factors shaping attainment have been taken out of the equation.

Hetty Einzig (1998)
Parenting Education and Support: A brief overview
Norwich: Family Support Network. (Insights, no. 3). 6 pages.
Discusses the nature of parenting education and support and its underlying principles. Gives examples of different approaches, in particular, the group work approach. Identifies who the recipients should be and assesses effectiveness. The Family Support Network was an initiative developed by the School of Social Work at the University of East Anglia. For copies of the paper please email a request, including your postal address.

Nicholas Emler (2001)
Self Esteem: The costs and causes of low self-worth
York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation. 97 pages.
ISBN: 1842630202
There is a view that too many children are now growing up with a sense that they have no value - and that their damaged sense of their own worth in turn causes them to do violence to themselves and others. This review aims to summarise what is known from research about the nature of self-esteem - its consequences and its antecedents.

Sue Gerhardt (2004)
Why Love Matters
Hove: Brunner-Routledge. 246 pages.
ISBN: 1583918175
Explains why love is essential to brain development in the early years of life, and how early interaction between babies and their parents have lasting and serious consequences. Sue Gerhardt explores how the earliest relationship shapes the baby's nervous system. She shows how the development of the brain can affect future emotional well being, and goes on to look at a specific early pathways that can affect the way we respond to stress and can contribute to conditions such as anorexia, addiction and antisocial behaviour.

Deborah Ghate and Neal Hazel (2002)
Parenting in Poor Environments: Stress, support and coping
London: Jessica Kingsley. 315 pages.
The findings of a large national study of parents living in poor environments, looking at how such parents were being supported, and where the need for further support and help might lie. Parenting strengths and weaknesses are explored and the main contexts for stress in child rearing examined. Support services, both formal and informal, are assessed, and the implications for family policy and family support services are discussed.

Roger Grimshaw and Christine McGuire (1998)
Evaluation parenting programmes: A study of stakeholders' views
London: National Children's Bureau. 68 pages.
Examines in depth the views of stakeholders in parenting programmes: those who fund and provide them, parents who attend them, those who do not, and children themselves. Shows what parents and professionals want from programmes in terms of access and outcomes. Sets this information in the context of current policy and practice and suggests key principles for future development.

Clem Henricson (2003)
Government and parenting: Is there a case for a policy reivew and a parents' code?
London: National Family and Parenting Institute. 115 pages. 
An examination of parental rights and responsibilities in relation to financial support and the physical and emotional care and control of children. The study consisted of a literature review and discussions with an advisory group of family policy specialists. In drawing up the proposals for a parents' code, precedents in Scotland, Finland and Sweden were examined.

Clem Henricson, Ilan Katz, Jeff Mesie, Milva Sandison and Jane Tunstill (2001)
National Mapping of Family Services in England and Wales: A consultation document
London: National Family and Parenting Institute. 144 pages.
ISBN: 1903615097
The full report of the mapping exercise designed to provide policy makers, practitioners, researchers and parents with an overview of the range, scale and distribution of family services in England and Wales. It provides a review of family services, cites examples of good practice, highlights gaps in services, describes the views of practitioners, managers and commissioners about how services are managed and resourced and identifies priorities and practices that will enhance family support.

Clem Henricson (editor) (2002)
Reaching Parents: Producing and delivering parent information resources. A qualitative research study and practice guide
London: National Family and Parenting Institute. 68 pages.
ISBN: 190361516X
To what extent is information for parents designed and offered in a way that meets their needs and requirements? This new study, based on research with parents of children of different ages and from different backgrounds and locations, looks at existing sources of information-based support, considers their value and relevance and makes an assessment of shortfalls in current provision. A series of recommendations for future development is included.

Fatima Husain (2005)
Cultural competence in family support: A toolkit for working with black, minority ethnic and faith families
London: National Family and Parenting Institute. 97 pages.
Practical materials for practitioners supporting families, particularly those who are marginalised within British society due to ethnicity, racial background, faith affiliation, class, level of literacy or access to resources. Addresses service planning as well as the intervention process, underpinned by the Culturally Competent Family Support model of care, which combines knowledge, awareness and sensitivity, and emphasises the importance of inter-cultural communication. Includes definitions, figures, guidelines and charts for practitioners, and factsheets on religions.

Eva Lloyd (editor) (1999)
Parenting Matters: What works in Parenting Education?
Ilford: Barnardo's. 168 pages.
This report describes a systematic review of research on parenting education. It considers effective research methodologies and how they can help improve practice and the impact of parent training programmes on child conduct problems, describing the development and delivery of parenting programmes at the University of Washington's Parenting Clinic in Seattle. The report is illustrated with examples of good practice from research in the UK and the USA

Brigid McConville (2002)
Where to Look for Help: A guide for parents and carers of teenagers
Brighton: Trust for the Study of Adolescence (TSA). 40 pages.
ISBN: 1871504392
Funded by the Home Office, this user-friendly guide provides a comprehensive range of organisations that offer help to parents. It aims to be two things - a prompt for parents to think about what it is they want, and a useful directory of helping organisations. The guide is split into two sections. The first section helps parents to identify the problem, whilst the second section lists the organisations that available to provide information and support.

Mental Health Foundation (1999)
Bright Futures: Promoting children and young people's mental health
London: Mental Health Foundation. 152 pages.
ISBN: 0901944661
Report of an inquiry into the mental health and emotional well-being of children and young people in the UK. It focuses both on the improvement of health services and care for those children experiencing mental health problems as well as the promotion of general mental health of the nation's children. Covers changes in society affecting children's mental health; mental health promotion through the family; mental health promotion through schools; the role and importance of early intervention; harmonising legislation and guidance.

Patricia Moran, Deborah Ghate and Amelia van der Merwe (2004)
What Works in Parenting Support? A review of the international evidence
London: Department for Education and Skills. 202 pages.
ISBN: 1844783081
A summary of a review of the international (English language) evidence regarding the effectiveness of parenting support programmes to establish what works both in the UK and elsewhere and to distil key messages regarding practice, research and family policy. The report is accompanied by a database of a selection of parenting support interventions and their evaluations. This can be accessed via the Policy Research Bureau's website.

National Family and Parenting Institute (2001)
Listening to parents: Their worries, their solutions
London: National Family and Parenting Institute. 7 pages.
A summary of a study, conducted by MORI, which aimed to understand parents' concerns, gather views on what makes a successful family, and identify any information needs of parents. Parents' biggest anxiety about family life was the risks from drugs and alcohol, and parents found the teenage years the most difficult to handle.

Mary Nolan (editor) (2002)
Education and Support for Parenting: A guide for health professionals
Edinburgh: Baillere Tindall. 240 pages.
ISBN: 0702026417
Brings together the expertise of practitioners in adult and parenting education, exploring the skills needed by health professionals and allied workers to support parents' efforts to be 'good enough'. Includes chapters on parent partnership, parenting education in schools and evaluating parenting education, as well as on supporting fathers, young parents, adoptive parents, parents with learning difficulties, parents of children who are disabled, women in prison and parents with children conceived through assisted conception.

Richard Olsen and Helen Tyers (2004)
Think Parent: Supporting Disabled Adults as Parents
London: National Family and Parenting Institute. 95 pages.
Aimed at social care professionals to encourage them to develop their work with disabled parents and provide ideas about how to support disabled adults in their parenting role. The report examines existing policy and legislation and its importance in underpinning supportive practice with disabled parents; messages from existing research and disabled parents' views on support; the approach and practice of four local authorities.

Parenting Education & Support Forum (now Parenting UK) (2005)
Qualities of Helpful Parenting: A discussion document
London: Parenting Education & Support Forum. 4 pages.
An invited group of experts bringing a variety of perspectives, produced a number of ideas which they agreed could constitute the underlying qualities of good parenting. A further group with different perspectives were invited to comment, and their conclusions were summarised in this short discussion document. It is not a list of effective parenting skills or strategies, which vary widely between cultures, beliefs and circumstances, but a description of the general approach and underlying qualities which we believe characterise helpful parenting. It forms an evidence led treatise to support policy development. 

Gillian Pugh, Erica De'ath and Celia Smith (1994)
Confident Parents, Confident Children: Policy and practice in parent education and support
London: National Children's Bureau. 279 pages.
ISBN: 1874579377
Looks at the challenges facing parents, at changes in society and in family patterns, at the skills involved in bringing up children and at what could be done to make parenting more enjoyable, more satisfying and better supported. This book is now out of print, it is available for members' reference only at our reference library, please email or phone 020 7284 8388 for an appointment.

David Quinton (2004)
Supporting Parents: Messages from research
London: Jessica Kingsley. 271 pages.
ISBN: 1843102102
Explores the range of supports that parents find effective and how these supports might be improved or better mobilized. It draws from government-funded research studies on the general population as well as specific service users, to highlight issues common to parents in a wide variety of circumstances. Drawing out the key messages for policy and practice, this overview shows how 'informal' support can be complemented by the provision of a fully integrated multi-agency response from health care, education and social services.

Debi Roker and John Coleman (2006)
Working with Parents of Young People: Research, Policy and Practice
London: Jessica Kingsley. 224 pages.
Provides guidance for a range of professionals working with parents and families, answering common questions, such as 'How can parents facilitate their child's transition to secondary school?' and 'How can families best communicate about alcohol?'. Drawing on the findings from years of applied research projects carried out by the Trust for the Study of Adolescence, each chapter focuses on a particular area of parenting young people - from monitoring and supervision, to support for foster families - and each highlights the implications of research results for policy and practice. Presents a range of approaches to working with parents and families, and discusses the effectiveness of techniques such as parent mentoring and involving young people in parenting programmes.

Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (2002)
Helpful Parenting
London: Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. 34 pages.
ISBN: 1900954702
The report of a multi-disciplinary working group examining the interactions between parents and children within the family setting as well as the wider social and political context in which this occurs. The report focuses on the first three years of life and concludes that the promotion of helpful parenting is important both for the parents and children directly involved and for society at large.

Evaluation Toolkit
London: Parenting Education & Support Forum/National Children's Bureau.
The Evaluation Toolkit is an attractive kit of accessible guidelines, measures and tools to guide and implement evaluation of parenting education and support interventions. Designed primarily for people who are new to evaluation, it contains additional advice and guidance for those with a higher level of understanding or knowledge and it is also useful as a teaching tool. It contains evaluation planning and design advice; evaluation in 10 stages; case studies and resource materials. To order please see our Publications page.

Celia Smith (1997)
Developing Parenting Programmes
London: National Children's Bureau. 184 pages.
ISBN: 1874579881
Presents the findings of a survey of group-based parenting programmes. Assesses the range of programmes available, which agencies provide them, who has access to them, and what kind of materials are used. Compares their objectives and methods, and evaluates their effectiveness. Aims to provide a framework of evaluation as a development tool for practitioners. This book is now out of print, it is available for members' reference only at our reference library, please email or phone 020 7284 8388 for an appointment.

David Utting, Helen Monteiro and Deborah Ghate (2007)
Interventions for children at risk of developing antisocial personality disorder
London: Policy Research Bureau. 105 pages.
Review commissioned by the Department of Health and the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit. Examines the evidence on: The Incredible Years; Triple P; Nurse-Family Partnership Programme; Multisystemic therapy (MST); Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care, and Functional Family Therapy. Concludes that all of the programmes show considerable effectiveness in both short and medium tern positive outcomes, with the Nurse-Family Partnership and MST also showing long-term benefits. Identifies specific aspects of effectiveness, and key principles of effective implementation that exist in all of the selected programmes.

Sheila Wolfendale and John Bastiani (2000)
The Contribution of Parents to School Effectiveness
London: David Fulton. 168 pages.
Illustrates the changing relations between teachers, governors, parents and pupils, and provides a critique of the rhetoric of partnership and its achievements and shortcomings in practice. Includes papers on work in Newham, Liverpool, Tower Hamlets and Paisley, and home-school work in rural areas.

Sheila Wolfendale and Hetty Einzig (editors) (1999)
Parenting Education and Support: New opportunities
London: David Fulton. 168 pages.
ISBN: 1853465798
A collection of papers which provides an extensive overview of current thinking and practice in the area of parenting education and support and also highlights emerging ideas and directions in which practice could evolve. The contributions are divided into three sections: review and overview of developments; themes of parental identity, and contexts for parenting and relating principles to practice.