Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2023
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197549513.013.7
Abstract
Child abuse and neglect clearly harm children, but the risks that accompany involvement with the family regulation system (also known as the child welfare system), especially placement in foster care, also present considerable risks to child development. This chapter describes these competing risks to child development, the legal framework governing the family regulation system, and scholarly debates in the field. It then analyzes the system in the broader context of the legal regulation of children, showing that the family regulation system is out of step with other areas and in need of significant reform. A core problem with the system is its crisis orientation, paying too little attention to family support and the prevention of child maltreatment. Equally problematic, the family regulation system reflects and reinforces racial and economic inequality. Black and Native American children are significantly overrepresented in the system and have worse outcomes than other children. Addressing these issues would help foster healthy child development.
Disciplines
Developmental Psychology | Juvenile Law | Law | Law and Psychology
Recommended Citation
Clare Huntington,
Child Development and the Family Regulation System,
The Oxford Handbook of Developmental Psychology and the Law, Allison D. Redlich & Jodi A. Quas (Eds.), Oxford University Press
(2023).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/4405