CD-48640
Child Abuse, Family Rights, and the Child Protective System: A Critical Analysis from Law, Ethics, and Catholic Social Teaching.
Catholic Social Thought.
Krason, Stephen M.
Franciscan University of Steubenville.
Book
xviii, 313 p.
Copyright
Published: 2013
Scarecrow Press
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Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214
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Available From:https://rowman.com/Scarecrow
Part of a series that explores Catholic social thought and its application to current issues, this text explores the plight afflicting American families and the role of the child protective system (CPS). It includes six papers presented at a conference held in April of 2012. The first paper examines the deleterious effect of the 1974 passage of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. It is argued that the Act helped create a runaway, abusive system in which 66-80% of reports are unfounded and have involved millions of families causing untold devastation. The following paper discusses human rights law and Catholic social teaching as they impact family and parental rights. The third paper examines the constitutional implications of CPS and related police authorities interference with family relations and calls for procedural rules to minimize the impact on the family. Procedures related to CPS investigations and the Fourth Amendment are discussed in the fourth paper, and the fifth paper presents social science research data that disputes the notion that all parents are potential abusers. Findings are shared that indicate child abuse and neglect is more prevalent in broken, blended, and untraditional families. The final paper argues that the root of much child maltreatment is poverty and unemployment and that current federal funding funnels money disproportionality to placing children outside of their homes instead of assisting family preservation. Appendices include amicus curiae briefs submitted in three of the leading U.S. Supreme Court cases where parental rights, the CPS, and State control over the family were in question. Numerous references.
Keywords:
Child protective Services; Parental rights; Child abuse; Child neglect; Roman Catholic Church; Human rights; Parent child relationships; Family preservation