Book review : Somebody Else's Kids by Torey Hayden

Tools

McIver, Leanne (2026) Book review : Somebody Else's Kids by Torey Hayden. Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care, 25 (1). pp. 162-165. ISSN 1478-1840 (https://doi.org/10.17868/strath.00096126)

[thumbnail of McIver-SJRCC-2026-Book-review-Somebody-elses-kids]
Preview
 Text. Filename: McIver-SJRCC-2026-Book-review-Somebody-elses-kids.pdf
Final Published Version
License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 logo
Download (85kB)| Preview

Abstract

I was first introduced to the work of educator and psychologist Torey Hayden in the mid-1990s, when I was still at high school and aspiring to a career in educational psychology. I didn't end up following that career path, but there was learning and perspective in Hayden's books which I've carried with me into my work with children and young people in schools, as a Guide leader, in education research, and as a parent. Much of her writing has strongly resonated with my more recent learning about trauma-informed practice and therapeutic parenting, despite being focused on a very different context: Hayden’s experiences in the American education system of the 1970s and 1980s. Many of the themes explored and questions raised in Hayden’s books parallel ongoing conversations in Scotland and beyond. Children’s behaviour, especially in schools, and how to manage it; the presumption in favour of ‘mainstream’ education for most children; behaviour as communication; emotional regulation and co-regulation; and the importance of relationships all feature strongly in Hayden’s writing about her practice and experiences.

ORCID iDs

McIver, Leanne ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1969-2241;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)