Why read Torn Apart?

Book cover of Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families--And How Abolition Can Build a Safer World

Book description

An award-winningscholarexposes thefoundational racismof thechild welfare systemand calls for radical change

Many believe the child welfare system protects children from abuse. But as Torn Apart uncovers, this system is designed to punish Black families. Drawing on decades of research, legal scholar and sociologist Dorothy Roberts reveals that the child…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Torn Apart as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Roxanna Asgarian

Author

Dorothy Roberts is the foremost expert on the harms of the child welfare system, which she terms the family policing system.

Her first book on the subject, Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare was published in 2001 and was way ahead of the curve in naming the racist practices of a system that’s in theory designed to help children. Torn Apart is a really important update, published in 2022, that allows for a new generation of readers to grapple with a harmful system and to wrap their minds around the need for a completely different approach.

From Roxanna's list on The best books to understand how our systems are failing our most vulnerable children—and to imagine a better way.