The Politics of Child Abuse in America (Child Welfare)
"Excellent and provocative."--Choice"Central to the future of a nation is how it treats or allows its children to be treated. No topic in our time is more important than what we as a nation do to protect our children. In the last several decades concern with child abuse has taken center stage. Yet the issue is not child abuse, but how child abuse is defined and addressed. Costin, Karger, and Stoesz examine this issue in detail. Their study is a watershed event in the discussion about child abuse in the United States."In the long view of history, what is significant, what stands out are voices that identify fundamental and driving issues and develop lines of inquiry which significantly address these issues. This is the strength ofThe Politics of Child Abuse in America."--Duncan Lindsey,School of Public Policyand Social Research, University of California, Los Angelesand author ofThe Welfare of Children"This book is extremely well-written and readable. It is powerful and hard-hitting at the same time that it is scholarly and intellectually honest. The authors provide a clear, integrated, conceptual historical perspective on the rise of the current child welfare system. They explain the concepts that have guided the system, past and present, and develop and overarching interpretive framework that fits the facts well while accounting for how the system has evolved toward the crisis that it is presently in. The authors jump right into today's heated debates, and emerge with their own unique entry to the current field of proposals for restructuring the system."--Leroy H. Pelton, Ph.D.,School of Social Work, Salem State College