TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding the Relationships Among Poverty, Child Maltreatment, and Child Protection Involvement
T2 - Perspectives of Service Users and Practitioners
AU - Saar-Heiman, Yuval
N1 - Funding Information:
Thank you to Professor Michal Krumer-Nevo, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, for her valuable insights on earlier versions of this article.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Society for Social Work and Research. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/3/1
Y1 - 2022/3/1
N2 - Objective: Despite the many studies noting the strong correlation between poverty and child maltreatment, the ways in which social workers and parents perceive the links between these phenomena have received little attention. Moreover, research investigating these links within a critical poverty knowledge framework and from a social inequality perspective is scant. This study addresses these gaps by conducting a critical, in-depth inquiry into the perspectives of parents and practitioners on the links and pathways between poverty and child maltreatment. Method: The study is based on 30 qualitative interviews with practitioners and families who took part in two child protection programs in Israel. Results: Based on critical poverty theories, analysis suggested the child protection–poverty matrix, which relates to both the multidimensionality of poverty and the ways in which all the dimensions of poverty influence parents, children, and their relationships with one another in their daily lives. Conclusion: The matrix illustrates the manifestation of neoliberal child protection policy in the lives of families and outlines how this social context might lead to child maltreatment and child protection involvement.
AB - Objective: Despite the many studies noting the strong correlation between poverty and child maltreatment, the ways in which social workers and parents perceive the links between these phenomena have received little attention. Moreover, research investigating these links within a critical poverty knowledge framework and from a social inequality perspective is scant. This study addresses these gaps by conducting a critical, in-depth inquiry into the perspectives of parents and practitioners on the links and pathways between poverty and child maltreatment. Method: The study is based on 30 qualitative interviews with practitioners and families who took part in two child protection programs in Israel. Results: Based on critical poverty theories, analysis suggested the child protection–poverty matrix, which relates to both the multidimensionality of poverty and the ways in which all the dimensions of poverty influence parents, children, and their relationships with one another in their daily lives. Conclusion: The matrix illustrates the manifestation of neoliberal child protection policy in the lives of families and outlines how this social context might lead to child maltreatment and child protection involvement.
KW - Child maltreatment
KW - Child protection policy and practice
KW - Critical poverty knowledge
KW - Poverty
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85112021370&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1086/713999
DO - 10.1086/713999
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85112021370
SN - 2334-2315
VL - 13
SP - 117
EP - 141
JO - Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research
JF - Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research
IS - 1
ER -