An award-winning scholar exposes the foundational racism of
the child welfare system and calls for radical change
Many believe the child welfare system protects children from abuse.
But as Torn Apart uncovers, this system is designed to punish
Black families. Drawing on decades of research, legal scholar and
sociologist Dorothy Roberts reveals that the child welfare system is
better understood as a “family policing system” that collaborates
with law enforcement and prisons to oppress Black communities. Child
protection investigations ensnare a majority of Black children,
putting their families under intense state surveillance and
regulation. Black children are disproportionately likely to be torn
from their families and placed in foster care, driving many to
juvenile detention and imprisonment.The only way to stop the destruction caused by family policing, Torn
Apart argues, is to abolish the child welfare system and liberate
Black communities.