Thread by @kelleytyfong

My new paper in @asr_journal uses the case of Child Protective Services to show how coupling care and coercion expands state surveillance, channeling those seen as needing help to a system with coercive power. 1/

Link: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.11…

Child Protective Services (#CPS) investigations reach 1 in 3 kids during childhood, disproportionately Black, Native American, and poor kids. But notably, cases usually close after investigation, with maltreatment allegations unsubstantiated 2/

How does this wide reach happen? And what does it mean for families? To find out, I shadowed caseworkers in Connecticut as they conducted investigations, then interviewed the mothers investigated in these cases and the professionals who called them in. 3/

Schools, hospitals, etc. call CPS not because kids are in grave danger, but because they want CPS to intervene with families in ways they can't. Seeing few other options but hoping to improve conditions for kids, they turn to CPS & its dual therapeutic and coercive capacities. 4/

This expansive, often paternalistic approach to reporting saddles CPS with many cases it's ill-equipped to handle; generates widespread surveillance (esp of marginalized families); and fosters fear & disengagement even when, as is typical, no one thinks kids need to be removed 5/

The findings highlight the interorganizational production of surveillance, as third parties leverage surveilling agencies to meet their own needs, and underscore the pitfalls of relying on entities organized around surveillance and coercion to provide support. 6/

Thanks to my respondents for making this work possible; to those who gave helpful feedback on prior drafts; and to the late @devah_pager—it’s because of Devah's encouragement to think big that I even started to wonder, "what if I *could* get access to CPS investigations..." 7/

Message/email me for the official journal version if needed; open-access, near-final PDF is here: scholar.harvard.edu/files/kfong/fi…. And stay tuned for a research brief on this, coming next week with @CCF_Families! 8/8

My @CCF_Families research brief is now online. Check it out for a summary of the study's findings and implications!

"The Tool We Have": Why CPS Investigates So Many Families and How Even Good Intentions Backfire
contemporaryfamilies.org/cps-brief-repo…