Using The National Survey of Child-Adolescent Well-Being to Examine the Role of Parental Gender in Decisions to Remove

• In Event: The Gendered Contexts of Victimization and Offending

Abstract

Research on the Criminal Justice System often examines the how demographics such as gender are related to sentencing and punishment decisions. Despite the many similarities between criminal justice and child welfare cases, research on the role of parental gender in child maltreatment cases is limited. Our study builds from our previous work to examine the relationships between parent gender, maltreatment type, and child welfare agency decisions to remove. Using the National Survey of Child Adolescent Well-Being data, we identify differences in the likelihood of child removal across types of maltreatment and perpetrator gender. We expand on our previous work by accounting for factors such as severity of abuse, permanency, and length of removal. With the addition of these new variables, we still find that mother perpetrators of physical abuse are the most likely to have their child removed. Our findings continue to suggest that gendered attributions and stereotypes regarding parenting can shape assessments of parents’ blameworthiness, dangerousness, and rehabilitative potential. 

Authors

• Mindy S. Bradley, University of Arkansas

• Brandon Lee Crawford, University of Arkansas