Turning the Corner

About the Book

Valerie McKinnon considers that the quality of parenting is the decisive factor in the mental and physical health of children today. Her book examines the changes in societal attitudes to marriage, divorce and parenting. In the late 1980’s, divorce was thought to be deeply damaging to the institution of the family: it followed that children could be irrevocably damaged should divorce occur within the family unit. Her original research indicated that this was not always the case, and, indeed, recent research puts a parent or parents, at the centre of children’s welfare.

Today, many are concerned about the problems caused by inadequate parenting and her book outlines the reasons why parenting has gone awry in a number of cases.

Valerie outlines attempts made by Governments to address these problems and suggests how we might take responsibility for improving our own lives and also become more responsive to societal shifts. She also uses the experiences of her research group to show how individuals have led fulfilling lives after experiencing family breakdown.

About the Author

Valerie McKinnon was born in Scotland and taught for a number of years in a variety of schools and colleges after attending University in Glasgow.  Her training and life experiences led her to question the prevailing wisdom in the late 1980’s that divorce was always damaging to the welfare of children.

Her beliefs led her to undertake a research project, never completed until recently because of work, family and house relocations. She now lives happily in England with her husband. Both intend to work abroad for an international organisation in the coming year.