259P
Matter over Mind: Patterns of Legal Intervention in Child Neglect Cases
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2011), 78.3% of unique child welfare cases in 2010
were due to neglect, making this one of the most pressing issues facing the adjudication of child welfare cases. Unlike other
forms of child maltreatment where there is often compelling physical evidence, child neglect is, by necessity, defined as an act
of omission. The lack of clear physical evidence of abuse in child neglect cases creates evidentiary standards that rely on
relatively subjective assessments. Since the mid-1960s, researchers have noted that there is little shared understanding
among child welfare workers about what constitutes a case of neglect that necessitates state intervention and what criteria
should be used to initiate legal proceedings against a family. These features lead to wide variation in the kinds of cases that are
adjudicated for child neglect. Further, research has shown that the impact of emotional neglect is often just as severe as other
forms of abuse but is much less likely to be intervened upon by CPS. This study investigates how Child Protective Service (CPS)
workers determine which neglect cases should be referred for social service intervention and which cases warrant immediate
legal intervention in the form of home removal.
Methods:
Data from this study draws from participant observation and 66 semi-structured interviews with CPS workers in Michigan
and Connecticut. Interviews were audio-taped and transcribed with analysis conducted in accordance with the principles of
grounded theory. Using Nvivo 10, interviews were coded thematically with specific attention paid to how CPS workers
evaluated neglect cases, determined the severity of neglect, and ultimately decided which cases warranted legal or social
service intervention for families.
Findings:
The data demonstrates that legal interventions in the form of protective supervision orders, temporary custody orders, and
termination of parental rights are most often mobilized in neglect cases when there are tangible, non-psychological features of
neglect such as poor conditions of the physical environment, parental substance abuse with positive drug screens, lack of
medical treatment (medical neglect). Issues that can be ‘seen’ are interpreted as posing the gravest safety risk to a child.
Cases that involve issues related to the mind such as parental mental illness, the emotional distress of a child, and exposure to
domestic violence, and which are often not ‘seen’ in the form of physical evidence are less likely to result in the mobilization of
legal interventions. When legal interventions are mobilized in these cases, it is often for shorter durations.
Implications:
The results of this study demonstrate that determinations about severity in neglect cases privilege forms of neglect that have
attendant physical evidence. These findings provide a framework for understanding why emotional neglect, despite the risks it
poses to a child, is less likely to be categorized as warranting legal intervention. Results point to the need to identify
measurable indicators of emotional neglect for CPS workers.