Manufacturing 'bad mothers' : a critical perspective on child neglect Karen J. Swift
By: Swift, Karen J.
Material type: BookPublisher: Toronto, Ont. : University of Toronto Press, 1995Description: x, 218 pages ; 23 cm.ISBN: 0-8020-7435-9.Subject(s): CHILD NEGLECT | CHILD PROTECTION | MOTHERS | POVERTY | SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE | CANADA | INDIGENOUS PEOPLES | FAMILY VIOLENCE | CHILD ABUSEDDC classification: 362.76 SWI Summary: "Child neglect has been characterized over the past century as a problem of deficient care of children by mothers. A complex and punitive child welfare system has emerged, based on a view that the children of these mothers require legally sanctioned rescue by those better suited to care for them. Karen Swift challenges both the accepted view of child neglect and the present official response to it. Beginning from a critical theoretical perspective, she argues that our usual perceptions of neglect hide and distort important social realities. This distorted perception only serves to reproduce the conditions of poverty, marginalization, and violence in which these families live. The current child welfare system, far from rescuing neglected children, helps instead to ensure the continuation of their problems, and the outcome is especially dramatic and damaging in Aboriginal communities. Swift explores the historical, organizational, and professional dimensions within which child neglect becomes a visible social reality. Also examined are relations of class, race, and gender embedded in our usual understanding of child neglect. " (From the blurb). Record 5048Item type | Current location | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode |
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Book | Family Violence library | TRO 362.76 SWI | Available | FV16050074 |
"Child neglect has been characterized over the past century as a problem of deficient care of children by mothers. A complex and punitive child welfare system has emerged, based on a view that the children of these mothers require legally sanctioned rescue by those better suited to care for them. Karen Swift challenges both the accepted view of child neglect and the present official response to it. Beginning from a critical theoretical perspective, she argues that our usual perceptions of neglect hide and distort important social realities. This distorted perception only serves to reproduce the conditions of poverty, marginalization, and violence in which these families live. The current child welfare system, far from rescuing neglected children, helps instead to ensure the continuation of their problems, and the outcome is especially dramatic and damaging in Aboriginal communities. Swift explores the historical, organizational, and professional dimensions within which child neglect becomes a visible social reality. Also examined are relations of class, race, and gender embedded in our usual understanding of child neglect. " (From the blurb). Record 5048