Hiding in Plain Sight

Carol Craig

Scotland. A country that prides itself on its  modernity and progressive instincts. Yet this is a nation whose mental  and physical health outcomes are poor by European standards. Hiding in  Plain Sight looks beneath the veneer and asks ‘why?’

In this grippingly readable yet challenging book,  Carol Craig offers an answer which, on reflection, becomes glaringly  obvious. Generations of Scottish children have suffered in ways that  undermined the nation’s health. The effect on some individuals has been,  quite literally, life-threatening. Disarmingly honest in starting from  her own and her neighbours’ lived experiences, she explores the growing  body of international research on Adverse Childhood Experiences.

This is essential reading not just for those who  grew up in Scotland in the 1950s and 60s and were encouraged to see a  range of damaging childhood adversities as ‘normal’. Its insights are  for anyone committed to enhancing the lives of children across Scotland  today.

hugely powerful, raw and brave 

Alistair Moffat, historian

an important book . . . her compelling conclusions are a challenge to us all

Phil Hanlon, Emeritus Professor of Public Health

a courageous and illuminating response to the science of Adverse Childhood Experiences 

Suzanne Zeedyk, developmental psychologist

a heartfelt and welcome personal account of a very important topic

Anne McKechnie, clinical psychologist

Carol Craig runs the Centre for Confidence and Well-Being and is the author of The Scots Crisis of Confidence,The Tears the Made the Clyde, and The Great Takeover. She is editor of the Postcards from Scotland series.

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