Child
Welfare
Description of the Series
Combatting Child
Abuse: International Perspectives and Trends - The Politics of Child Abuse in
America
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The Welfare of Children
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- Child Welfare: A Series in Child Welfare Practice, Policy, and Research
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- Oxford University Press is pleased to announce an important new series of books on Child
Welfare Practice, Policy and Research under the general editorship of Duncan Lindsey of the School of
Public Policy and Social Research at the University of California, Los Angeles.
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- Concern about the condition of children has grown over the last several decades with
increased research, policy analysis, and scholarship. With the growing recognition of
public responsibility for the welfare of children there has been an increased focus on
children's issues. As a result the child welfare field has grown and accumulated
knowledge. There has been movement into new research frontiers. Boundaries have broken
down between traditional categories of research and policy analysis with new areas of
research breaking out by fission. This series recognizes the emerging research and policy
paradigm n the child welfare field and is designed to produce, over time, books that will
be definitive statements of major issues or that make major scientific and theoretical
contributions to the field.
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- Examination of the major substantive issues in the areas of practice, programs, and
policy in child welfare will be of foremost importance. The series will also include broad
based research studies based on original data. This series is multidisciplinary in scope
with contributions from economics, law, policy sciences, psychology, sociology, social
work, child development, and related fields. In addition, the series has an international
scope with contributors from all around the world.
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- In 1978, the general editor of the series launched Children
and Youth Services Review. With eighteen volumes now printed, it can
rightfully claim to be the flagship series of essays and articles on child welfare issues.
The intention of the Child Welfare Series is to provide a similar vehicle
for book-length studies, accessible to the general reader as well as meeting the needs of
scholars and students.
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Titles in the Series
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- The Welfare of Children
- by Duncan Lindsey
416pp, line figures, tables, 234×156
Published December 1994
Hardback, 0-19-508518-3
In this unique contribution to the study of the child welfare system in the United
States, Duncan Lindsey provides a critical, but heartfelt, look into the current situation
for children. He examines the successes and failures of the current child welfare system,
and proposes new approaches to achieve comprehensive reform to allow for greater
achievements for children. If taken seriously, Lindsey's suggestions for the future could
point the way towards ending poverty among children, and breaking the cycle of abuse and
neglect.
For more information click here.
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- The Politics of Child
Abuse in America
- by Lela Costin, Howard J. Karger, David Stoesz
Child abuse policy in the United States contains dangerous contradictions. A rapidly
expanding child abuse industry, consisting of enterprising psychotherapists and attorneys,
consumes enormous resources. At the same time, thousands of poor children are seriously
injured or killed, many while being "protected" by public agencies. The growing
interest in child abuse as a middle class problem has led to the frenzied pursuit of
offenders, resulting in the sacrifice of innocent children and adults. Intense media focus
on the sensational details of high-visibility sexual abuse cases has trivialized, if not
commercialized, the issue. The child welfare system has become a virtual
"nonsystem," marked by a staggering turnover of staff, unmanageable caseloads, a
severe shortage of funding, and caseloads composed of highly dysfunctional families (many
with drug-related problems).
The Politics of Child Abuse in America presents a compelling analysis of these
problems, revealing the historical patterns that gave rise to them and presenting
practical policy recommendations. Child abuse, the authors argue, must be viewed as a
public safety problem, not a social welfare issue. The crackdown on domestic violence has
extended legal protections to physically and sexually abused women, and this same
protection is essential for abused children. The authors contend this can be done by
creating a "Children's Authority," a government agency solely dedicated to
protecting children. The Children's Authority would provide the six fundamentals of child
protection: investigation, enforcement, placement services, prevention and education,
family support, and research and development.
The Politics of Child Abuse in America presents a new and provocative perspective on
one of our most pressing social crises. It will be an invaluable resource for scholars,
students, and professionals in social work, as well as for anyone concerned about the
welfare of children in the United States.
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About the Authors
Lela B. Costin is Professor Emerita at the School of Social Work,
University of Illinois-Urbana, Champaign. Her most recent works include Two
Sisters for Social Justice, and Child Welfare Policies and
Practice (Fourth Edition).
Howard Jacob Karger is Professor and Director of Doctoral Education at the University
of Houston. His most recent books include American Social Welfare Policy,
Controversial Issues in Social Policy, and the forthcoming Social
Work and Public Life.
David Stoesz is the Samuel Wurtzel Chair in Social Work at Virginia Commonwealth
University, Richmond. His previous works include American Social Welfare
Policy, Reconstructing the American Welfare State,
and Small Change: Domestic Policy Under the Clinton Presidency.
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Praise for:
- "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 an 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.
(Professor and author of For Reasons of Poverty)
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- "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 of The Politics of Child Abuse in
America." Duncan Lindsey (UCLA School of Public Policy and Social
Research)
- Related and Forthcoming
Titles
- The Tender Years: Towards Developmentally Sensitive Child Welfare
Services for Very Young Children
- by Jill Duerr Berrick, Barbara Needell, Richard Barth, and Melissa Jonson-Reid all at
University of California, Berkeley
- Child Welfare Practice: A Competence-Centered Approach
- by Anthony Maluccio, Boston College
- Women, Children, and Aids
- by Theodore Stein, SUNY at Albany
- The Roller Coaster Ride: Reforming Child Welfare in the United
States
- by David Tobis, Hunter College
Practical Foundations for Social Work Practice in Child and
Family Settings
by Christoher Petr, University of Kansas
- Faces of Poverty: Portraits of Women and Children on Welfare
- by Jill Duerr Berrick, University of California, Berkeley
"Jill Duerr Berrick makes a valuable contribution to the current political
debates over welfare reform and societal responsibility for human need. Berrick cuts
through much of the current rhetoric surrounding welfare programs to the the heart of the
matter: how these programs contribute to the day-to-day survival needs of low income women
and children. Faces of Poverty should be read by all legislators, social workers, social
work educators, and students, it should be mandatory reading for anyone who wishes to
express an opinion on this controversial issue." Michael Reisch, University of
Pennsylvania
- The Youth Gang Problem
- by Irving A. Spergel, University of Chicago
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Send mail to dlindsey@ucla.edu with
questions or comments about this web site.
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