Overview

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.

Full Product Details

9781793630667

Table of Contents

Reviews

"For this institutional ethnography of the child welfare system in the US, Moore and Gagn� 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. -- ""Choice Reviews"""

Author Information

Christa Jane Moore is associate professor of Sociology at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise. Patricia Gagné is professor emerita in the Department of Sociology at the University of Louisville.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available