20180423

Abstract

Abstract

Disability, Intersectionality, Child Welfare and Child Protection: Research Representations

“…For example, Johnson and colleagues (2020) state that 'bivariate and multivariate analyses' are conducted in which 'intersecting identities of race, ethnicity and disability status' are considered (p. 12). Seventyfive percent of the mentions are covert, using much more general language such as that noted in Harris and Ford (2017) who state, 'from those interactions, we focused on those that repeated in similar or different contexts for one or both of us and examined the extent to which these were a function of race, class, and/or gender' (p. 33).…”

“…adoption was more pertinent in some studies such as Johnson and colleagues (2020), who examined adoption outcomes from foster care, and Harris and Ford (2017) who examined Single Mothers by Choice (SMC) and adoption.…”

“…An overview of findings is provided in and colleagues (2020), who focused on the mental health wellbeing (or impact) of parents on both child development and maltreatment, or Mountz and Capous-Desyllas (2020), who covered the familial or intergenerational impacts of mental health within and in the transition from care. There were 11 articles (52.4%) that had no direct engagement with the intersection of child protection and disability, such as Harris and Ford (2017), who considered the intersections of adoptive parents' identities and the impact on being successful in an adoption process. Of note was the article by Walls and colleagues (2019: 141-142), which had minimal engagement with the topic at hand by clearly stating '…More nuanced research unpacking the intersection of disability and gender in regard to transgender parenting might help shed light on these differences' is required.…”

“…Further, we conducted an analysis to determine whether mentions of intersectionality were overt or covert and found that 70.5 percent of the mentions in these articles were overt. Examples of overt discussions of intersectionality in the front matter of the articles include a discussion by authors Harris and Ford (2017) talking about 'the racialized, gendered, and classed aspects of our respective processes merited deeper consideration, which prompted us to take on the task of sociologically analysing our experiences through an intersectional lens' (Harris & Ford 2017: 28).…”

“…Of these mentions, 71.4 percent were overt mentions, such as those named above. A covert mention might involve referencing multiple social identities, such as race, class, and gender (Harris & Ford 2017) or talking about 'multifaceted issues' (Marshall & Haight 2014: 84).…”