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Torn apart : how the child welfare system destroys Black families--and how abolition can build a safer world / Dorothy Roberts.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Basic Books, 2022Copyright date: ©2022Edition: First editionDescription: vii, 375 pages ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781541675445
  • 1541675444
Subject(s):
Contents:
Introduction : A benevolent terror -- Destroying Black families -- "They separate children at the Harlem border, too" -- Professional kidnappers -- Rotten at the root -- Strong-armed -- The foster-industrial complex -- Family surveillance -- Carceral entanglements -- Structured to harm -- Criminalizing Black children -- Care in place of terror.
Summary: "An award-winning scholar exposes the foundational racism of the child welfare system and calls for radical change. Many believe the child welfare system protects children from abuse. But as Torn Apart uncovers, this system is designed to punish Black families. Drawing on decades of research, legal scholar and sociologist Dorothy Roberts reveals that the child welfare system is better understood as a 'family policing system' that collaborates with law enforcement and prisons to oppress Black communities. Child protection investigations ensnare a majority of Black children, putting their families under intense state surveillance and regulation. Black children are disproportionately likely to be torn from their families and placed in foster care, driving many to juvenile detention and imprisonment. The only way to stop the destruction caused by family policing, Torn Apart argues, is to abolish the child welfare system and liberate Black communities"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 362.7097 R643 Available 33111010830046
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

An award-winning scholar exposes the foundational racism of the child welfare system and calls for radical change



Many believe the child welfare system protects children from abuse. But as Torn Apart uncovers, this system is designed to punish Black families. Drawing on decades of research, legal scholar and sociologist Dorothy Roberts reveals that the child welfare system is better understood as a "family policing system" that collaborates with law enforcement and prisons to oppress Black communities. Child protection investigations ensnare a majority of Black children, putting their families under intense state surveillance and regulation. Black children are disproportionately likely to be torn from their families and placed in foster care, driving many to juvenile detention and imprisonment.



The only way to stop the destruction caused by family policing, Torn Apart argues, is to abolish the child welfare system and liberate Black communities.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 309-360) and index.

Introduction : A benevolent terror -- Destroying Black families -- "They separate children at the Harlem border, too" -- Professional kidnappers -- Rotten at the root -- Strong-armed -- The foster-industrial complex -- Family surveillance -- Carceral entanglements -- Structured to harm -- Criminalizing Black children -- Care in place of terror.

"An award-winning scholar exposes the foundational racism of the child welfare system and calls for radical change. Many believe the child welfare system protects children from abuse. But as Torn Apart uncovers, this system is designed to punish Black families. Drawing on decades of research, legal scholar and sociologist Dorothy Roberts reveals that the child welfare system is better understood as a 'family policing system' that collaborates with law enforcement and prisons to oppress Black communities. Child protection investigations ensnare a majority of Black children, putting their families under intense state surveillance and regulation. Black children are disproportionately likely to be torn from their families and placed in foster care, driving many to juvenile detention and imprisonment. The only way to stop the destruction caused by family policing, Torn Apart argues, is to abolish the child welfare system and liberate Black communities"-- Provided by publisher.

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