Understanding the Relationships Among Poverty, Child Maltreatment, and Child Protection Involvement: Perspectives of Service Users and Practitioners

Abstract

Objective: Despite the many studies noting the strong correlation between poverty and child maltreatment, the ways in which social workers and parents perceive the links between these phenomena have received little attention. Moreover, research investigating these links within a critical poverty knowledge framework and from a social inequality perspective is scant. This study addresses these gaps by conducting a critical, in-depth inquiry into the perspectives of parents and practitioners on the links and pathways between poverty and child maltreatment. Method: The study is based on 30 qualitative interviews with practitioners and families who took part in two child protection programs in Israel. Results: Based on critical poverty theories, analysis suggested the child protection–poverty matrix, which relates to both the multidimensionality of poverty and the ways in which all the dimensions of poverty influence parents, children, and their relationships with one another in their daily lives. Conclusion: The matrix illustrates the manifestation of neoliberal child protection policy in the lives of families and outlines how this social context might lead to child maltreatment and child protection involvement.