Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families--and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World by Dorothy Roberts will be released on April 5, 2022.
An award-winning scholar exposes 
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 welfare" system is better understood as a family policing system that collaborates with law enforcement and prisons to oppress Black communities. Child protection investigations ensnare a majority of Black children, putting their families under intense state surveillance and regulation. Black children are disproportionately likely to be torn from their families and placed in the foster system, driving many to juvenile detention and imprisonment.
The only way to stop the destruction caused by family policing, Torn Apart argues, is to abolish the family policing system and liberate Black communities. The book features insights and quotes from several Rise parents. It will be released April 5th.
>> Pre-Order Torn Apart now from Revolution Books.
Dorothy Roberts is the George A. Weiss University Professor of Law and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she directs the Penn Program on Race, Science and Society. She lives in Philadelphia and has authored four books, including Killing the Black Body.
Resources from Rise
>> Read the Rise interview, 'Abolition is the Only Answer': A Conversation with Dorothy Roberts, by Keyna Franklin, Rise Assistant Editor.
>> View the video recording of Dorothy Roberts as a guest speaker at Rise's 2021 annual fundraiser celebration.
>> Access abolition learning resources on Rise's website.
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