ECU Libraries Catalog

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

Author/creator Roberts, Dorothy E., 1956- author.
Format Book and Print
EditionFirst trade paperback edition.
Publication Info New York : Basic Books, 2023.
Copyright Notice ©2022
Description375 pages ; 21 cm
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.
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.
Abstract "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."
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references (pages 309-360) and index.
Genre/formInformational works.
Genre/formInformational works.
ISBN9781541675469 (paperback)
ISBN1541675460 (paperback)

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