Abolitionist perspectives in child protection: potentials and pitfalls
Date
Tuesday 10 September 2024
Time
1-2:30pm
Location
Online
Organised by
Social Justice and Child Protection Research Network, Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka | University of Otago
Cost
Free
In this Social Justice and Child Protection Research Network seminar, Dr. Ian Hyslop will discuss his upcoming book, co-edited with Professor Bob Pease, entitled: Abolitionist Approaches to Social Work and the Human Services: Reparation, Solidarity, Decolonisation and Accountability.
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Abolitionist perspectives in child protection: potentials and pitfalls
Seminar series: Social justice and child protection research network
Abolitionist concepts are gaining considerable ground in child welfare theorising globally, with particular uptake in the US. Borrowing heavily on abolitionist concepts in criminal justice, abolitionism argues that the systems established to respond to instances of child harm in the community are themselves harmful to both children and adults, because they are based on carceral notions of blame, punishment, coercion and removal/separation, while doing little to address the wide-ranging societal causes of harm for children. The interventions of child protection systems have disproportionate burdens on people living in situations of poverty, racialised and Indigenous people, women and people with disabilities, yet systems of response seldom prioritise the views of people from these groups, nor the communities they are a part of. Abolition argues that these issues are intrinsically tied to longstanding patterns of social inequities and the imbalanced funnelling of resources into punitive responses rather than prevention, restoration or equity. Yet abolition stumbles on several points, in particular in the child protection context. When children are harmed, the premise of abolition that community accountabilities will be sufficient to engage those who use violence towards children without coercion, or that communities will fairly and self-evidently distribute resources to support family life, are light on details. How such notions overlap with, or diverge from efforts to decolonise child protection, or to implement a public health model of child welfare remain unclear, and the possibilities for solidarity between movements underdeveloped. Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, there are many initiatives already grappling with community-led and prevention-focussed practice, both inside and outside the formal child protection system. What does abolition add to these efforts?
In this seminar, Dr. Ian Hyslop will discuss his upcoming book, co-edited with Professor Bob Pease, entitled: Abolitionist Approaches to Social Work and the Human Services: Reparation, Solidarity, Decolonisation and Accountability. He will outline the key arguments of abolition with relevance for both social work and child protection. He will be joined by Emily Keddell and Kerri Cleaver, two chapter contributors, who will outline their chapters, and chew over the potentials and pitfalls of abolitionist frameworks in child protection contexts.
Zoom: Join from PC, Mac, iOS or Android: https://otago.zoom.us/j/8366496535?pwd=NR9YmAo8zo9XxfKwxV0VEvaiNFuhQ6.1
Meeting ID: 836 649 6535
Password: 025283