NCJ Number
139244
Journal
Criminal Justice Journal Volume: 13 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring 1992) Pages: 399-409
Date Published
1992
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This review of a recent volume that critically examines child protection systems notes that its basic argument is that efforts to address child abuse have allowed many children to die, have forced many more to live with strangers, and have created chaos in large numbers of innocent families.
Abstract
The book's author uses the term "child savers" to describe the people who try to protect children at all costs while overlooking the harm they do in the process or the evidence indicating that the child it not at risk. The volume is based on testimony from legislative hearings, articles and studies in legal and psychological journals, details from many cases involving allegations of child abuse, and interviews with agency personnel and others. The book's basic premise is that any intervention into a family by child protective services is traumatic. The author also believes that many cases of child abuse are simply neglect and that poverty causes much of the neglect. However, the volume lacks balance and often omits crucial information. The book has merit if read with a questioning and balanced perspective and awareness that its main contribution is an analysis of some past errors. Another book is needed to present the lessons provided and the future directions needed. Footnotes