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‘Catching a Case: Inequality and Fear in New York City’s Child Welfare System’ [youthtoday.org]

 

Anthropologist Tina Lee immersed herself in the exotic culture of a child welfare agency, its folkways, “clients,” employees and contractors. She has returned with an eye-opening report.

Anthropologists describe, not prescribe. Their expeditions yield close-up views of the rituals and radically different practices of far-away societies. With their help, we can reflect: Would we like to live like the Melanesians? How about the hunter-gatherer lifestyle?

The tribes that Professor Lee studied perform their exotic rituals right here in the United States. New York City’s child welfare system, the subject of “Catching a Case,” is much like child welfare services throughout the U.S. Without saying so directly — for anthropologists do not judge — “Catching a Case” presents a system of people, policies, procedures and processes that frustrates nearly everyone.

[For more on this story by Edward Opton, go to http://youthtoday.org/2018/01/...hild-welfare-system/]

[For another story on this topic, go to Building Bridges Between Birth Parents, Foster Parents]

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