Abstract
In sharing her wealth of experience and expertise, Dr. Pennell thoroughly walks the reader through her work with restorative justice, feminist kin-making, and family group decision-making (FGDM) that began with Gale Burford over 30 years ago. Although her research and work took place in both the United States and Canada, this book focuses on the FGDM project that took place in both Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, across three different communities, Inuit, rural, and urban. Through her advocacy, diligence, and community engagement efforts that centered on listening and relationship-building, Pennell demonstrates the successes surrounding FGDM and rethinking family and community safety.
In describing the origins and processes of the project surrounding FGDM and using narrative inquiry as her methodology, Pennell highlights and critically explores multiple concepts that related to and informed her work, including concepts related to family, violence, conferencing and circles, feminist theory, indigenous theories, race and racism, collective versus individual responsibility, liberatory and anti-carceral frameworks, and critically and creatively revisiting safety and well-being. Pennell also interweaves and reflects throughout her writing on social work's harmful and complicated history with the child welfare system, whiteness, and safety and makes the reader think critically about key social work values, such as investing in human relationships, seeing the person(s) within their environment, and upholding the dignity and worth of the person.
Pennell's book revolves around four different narrative threads: restoring family and cultural leadership; storytelling for hope and recovery; regulating responsively the healing process; and cascading trust and nonviolence. Throughout the entire book and within each of these narrative threads, Pennell does not shy away from holding multiple and, at times, conflicting tensions that existed within the project and her findings. In a way, Pennell's ability to consistently hold these tensions, along with the stories that clearly highlighted the empowering impact for families and communities through the FGDM, is one of the book's strongest contributions.
In reading this book, Pennell poses critical questions to the reader and encourages the reader to ask their own reflective questions along with the way, including ones that may challenge assumptions around roles and responsibilities within family and community safety. For instance, in her last chapter highlighting hope and caution, Pennell encourages her audience to “don’t assume costs are always the issue for the government, beware of risk aversion and slippage into familiar paradigms, check which system is making the most referrals to a program . . . attend to the needs of all family members . . . [and] keep programs closely tied to cultural networks and local communities” (pp. 115–118), among others.
Another major contribution of the book is Pennell's deep dive into the history surrounding FGDM, including the cultural histories of local indigenous tribes and relationships between rural and urban communities, families, and government institutions and agencies. Pennell takes these opportunities to stress the importance of respecting, learning, and understanding the impact of local cultures, language, and meaning-making surrounding families, gender roles, race, and safety. At times, the book reads part of history, research, theory, and practice to thoroughly investigate these concepts, frameworks, and histories. In doing so, Pennell reminds social workers to be very careful about their assumptions and client relationships and, ultimately, family and community safety, to take time, to trust, to listen, and to value the importance of stories. Although the interweaving of different historical narratives and contexts may make the reader question the organization of a chapter, Pennell has been intentional with her thoroughly researched and comprehensive writing.
Pennell's book has the potential to speak to many different types of audiences, both social workers and other related professionals. In highlighting numerous concepts, historical narratives, and lessons learned, this book could be selected and engaged with among practitioners, students, researchers, educators, policymakers, and activists. Pennell holds together multiple narratives, themes, tensions, and hope throughout her writing as she encourages social workers to be more intentional and diligent in rethinking safety, families, violence, restorative justice, gender norms, feminist theories, and community engagement.
