| Summary: | "In this book, Julia Krane offers a first-hand look at everyday child welfare protection practices from the perspective of mothers of sexually abused children and their female social workers, charting their complex, contradictory, and often costly relations with the child welfare arm of the Canadian state. Drawing on interviews with social workers and mothers of sexually abused children, examinations of client files and court documents, and reviews of training and procedural manuals, Krane argues that child welfare procedures designed to protect children and help parents often end up as methods to scrutinize and punish mothers for their inadequacies, transforming them into a protective labour force expected to safeguard their children. Protection practices, she contends, essentially reproduce legacies of mother blame and responsibility for child sexual abuse, relieving the abuser and the state of liability." "This study lays bare the role of gender in relation to child sexual abuse and child protection, and locates child welfare practice in feminist scholarly debates about women and the welfare state. Krane uses her analysis to identify problem areas and make recommendations for change, such as creating services and resources that take into account the gendered nature of protection, offering support to women in their protective efforts, and allowing opportunities for women to explore and reflect on the context of maternal care and protection."--Jacket.
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