Child welfare, juvenile justice and the rights of the child : a socio-legal analysis of life narratives of African American girls and young women in the USA

• Main Author: Fine, Margaret Carol
• Published: University of Liverpool 2016
• Subjects: 362.7
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.706758

In the United States, the child welfare system is designed to address the needs and safety of children and young people who have suffered from abuse or neglect, whilst the juvenile delinquent system is intended to address children and young people for acts generally considered crimes in the adult criminal justice system. African American young women are overrepresented in these systems. The child welfare and juvenile delinquent systems, however, can have 'messy boundaries' where they overlap, intermesh and/or have cracks and gaps as children and young people enter, move within and exit them. There is limited narrative information about African American girls and young women involved in the child welfare and juvenile delinquent systems. The thesis applies qualitative methodology involving interviews that enabled young women to retrospectively reflect on their involvement in these systems. By generating narrative information, the thesis uses narrative inquiry to identify concepts, themes and patterns that emerged from the life narratives of the young women. Finally, the thesis aims to explore whether the young African American women considered themselves able to meaningfully participate when involved in the child welfare and juvenile delinquent systems. In this light, the thesis considers 'participation' as a theoretical and analytical approach and specifically, explores Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as a comprehensive, valuable frame of reference (despite lack of USA ratification) for children's participation in these systems.