Book Review: <i>Social Work With Unmarried Mothers and Their Children</i> by Cree, V. E. and MacKenzie, R. Social Work With Unmarried Mothers and Their Children. CreeV. E.MacKenzieR. (Eds.). London: Routledge, 2026, 152 pages, eBook ISBN: 97810035355

Social Work with Unmarried Mothers and Their Children: Learning from the Past is a significant contribution to the fields of social work history, child welfare, and family studies.The book revisits the experiences of unmarried mothers and their children in Scotland during and after the Second World War, focusing particularly on the work of the Guild of Service for Women and the children's homes Edzell Lodge and Margaret Cottage.What makes this volume distinctive is its collaborative and co-produced methodology.Alongside academic researchers, the narrative includes the voices and memories of former residents and practitioners, thereby creating a deeply human and reflective historical account.The book successfully combines archival evidence, historical policy analysis, and personal testimony to illuminate how unmarried mothers and children experienced institutional care in mid-twentieth-century Scotland.The book is organized into six chapters that gradually build a nuanced understanding of historical social work practice.The introductory chapter outlines the aims and methodological approach of the study, emphasizing the importance of recovering marginalized voices in social work history.The second chapter situates the reader within the broader social and historical context of wartime and post-war Britain, where unmarried motherhood was heavily stigmatized and institutional interventions were shaped by moral regulation and gendered expectations.The central chapters present life stories and personal recollections of children and staff connected with the institutions.These narratives provide vivid insights into daily routines, emotional relationships, discipline, care practices, and feelings of belonging or exclusion within residential care settings.Later chapters analyze these experiences critically and draw out broader implications for contemporary childcare and social work practice.