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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Four Commentaries: How We Can Better Protect Children From Abuse And Neglect, Leroy H. Pelton
Four Commentaries: How We Can Better Protect Children From Abuse And Neglect, Leroy H. Pelton
Social Work Faculty Research
The fundamental structure of the public child welfare system is that of a coercive apparatus wrapped in a helping orientation. Agencies ostensibly having the mission to help are mandated to ask whether parents can be blamed for their child welfare problems, and these agencies have the power to remove children from their homes. Thus, the public child welfare agency has a dual-role structure: On one hand, the agency attempts to engage in prevention and support, and to promote family preservation; on the other hand, it also has the task of investigating complaints against parents and removing children from them. This …