Gendered Power in Child Welfare

What’s Care Got to Do with It?

Inbunden, Engelska, 2023

1 369 kr

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In Gendered Power in Child Welfare: What’s Care Got to Do with It?, Christa Jane Moore and Patricia Gagné argue that the child welfare system in Kentucky and other states is based on masculine values that were institutionalized long before women had the right to vote, hold public office, or have a voice in public law and policy. The authors draw on feminist and organizational theories and base their arguments on primary qualitative data and secondary statistics to demonstrate that, historically and today, the efforts of care workers in the child welfare system are stymied by a highly bureaucratic child welfare system that demands focus on metric outcomes. Throughout the work the authors argue for reforms—more feminized orientations that hearken back to the earliest extensions of community-centered care for those most vulnerable, especially children with protective needs.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2023-06-21
Mått157 x 237 x 21 mm
Vikt476 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor200
FörlagBloomsbury Publishing Plc
ISBN9781793630667

Tillhör följande kategorier

Chapter 1. Historical Development of the Child Welfare System Part I: Early Conceptualizations of MaltreatmentChapter 2. Historical Development of the Child Welfare System Part II: Child Maltreatment in the Modern EraChapter 3. Scope and Realities of the ProblemChapter 4. Child Welfare Systems: Bureaucracy and Complex OrganizationsChapter 5. Gendered Power in Kentucky’s Child Welfare SystemChapter 6. Lived Experiences of Child Welfare WorkersChapter 7. Innovative Models of Collaboration in Child WelfareChapter 8. Future Issues in Child Welfare

For this institutional ethnography of the child welfare system in the US, Moore and Gagné studied case files, conducted extensive participant observation, and interviewed 83 participants in the child welfare system in Kentucky, including frontline child welfare workers and system clients. What emerged was a highly bureaucratic system in which what was printed in the case files, sometimes from years past, took on a life of its own, at times in complete disregard of the families affected. As the authors make clear, this stems from the patriarchal mentality that guides the system and encourages efficiency. Throughout the text are sad and frustrating stories of the social workers and families caught in this flawed system. A meticulous review of the case files reveals how, in story after story, children are rarely returned to their families after being removed. The first two chapters offer an excellent history of the US child welfare system, beginning in the colonial era when poor children were sent to live in workhouses or auctioned off to other families for their labor. Poor families were considered lazy and immoral, a legacy the authors document to the present. This is an excellent exploration of the barriers to family reunification. Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals.