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Endangered children: experiencing and surviving the state as failed parent and grandparent

Endangered children: experiencing and surviving the state as failed parent and grandparent
Endangered children: experiencing and surviving the state as failed parent and grandparent
The state removes children from ‘failed’ parents to give them a better experience of parenting. This article examines the role that the state plays as parent to young mothers in care and grandparent to their children, drawing on a small-scale study undertaken in western Canada using grounded theory methodology. The findings were bleak: the state as parent and grandparent also fails these children. We consider why this is the case and make suggestions for ways forward by critiquing the ideology of familialism that underpins the state’s punitive approach to these young mothers and their children. We also call for policies and a practice that enable practitioners to address structural inequalities such as poverty and racism alongside the capacity to respond to the personal needs of the young women and their children as young people with dignity and rights.
parenting, young mothers, children, grounded theory, familialism, state as parent, state as grandparent, poverty, racism, rights, practice, practitioners
0045-3102
1123-1144
Dominelli, Lena
6cf8fcb9-21dd-4f09-b5a5-0776a10a2cdb
Strega, Susan
c4a30452-cee2-43b8-9af5-af570234d104
Callahan, Marilyn
7457469f-43e5-42fc-826f-9dcbd5055d30
Rutman, Debbie
5e94e9f6-bc23-4d53-ab45-954f2cc324cf
Dominelli, Lena
6cf8fcb9-21dd-4f09-b5a5-0776a10a2cdb
Strega, Susan
c4a30452-cee2-43b8-9af5-af570234d104
Callahan, Marilyn
7457469f-43e5-42fc-826f-9dcbd5055d30
Rutman, Debbie
5e94e9f6-bc23-4d53-ab45-954f2cc324cf

Dominelli, Lena, Strega, Susan, Callahan, Marilyn and Rutman, Debbie (2005) Endangered children: experiencing and surviving the state as failed parent and grandparent. British Journal of Social Work, 35 (7), 1123-1144. (doi:10.1093/bjsw/bch224).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The state removes children from ‘failed’ parents to give them a better experience of parenting. This article examines the role that the state plays as parent to young mothers in care and grandparent to their children, drawing on a small-scale study undertaken in western Canada using grounded theory methodology. The findings were bleak: the state as parent and grandparent also fails these children. We consider why this is the case and make suggestions for ways forward by critiquing the ideology of familialism that underpins the state’s punitive approach to these young mothers and their children. We also call for policies and a practice that enable practitioners to address structural inequalities such as poverty and racism alongside the capacity to respond to the personal needs of the young women and their children as young people with dignity and rights.

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More information

Published date: 2005
Additional Information: BJSW Advance Access originally published online on July 11, 2005
Keywords: parenting, young mothers, children, grounded theory, familialism, state as parent, state as grandparent, poverty, racism, rights, practice, practitioners

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 40809
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/40809
ISSN: 0045-3102
PURE UUID: e34dbf85-9a39-4ad0-ac4d-d5e437ff70c3

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 10 Jul 2006
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 08:22

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Contributors

Author: Lena Dominelli
Author: Susan Strega
Author: Marilyn Callahan
Author: Debbie Rutman

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