将残疾纳入终止父母权利的条件。

The inclusion of disability as a condition for termination of parental rights.

机构信息

School of Social Work, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.

出版信息

Child Abuse Negl. 2010 Dec;34(12):927-34. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2010.07.001. Epub 2010 Oct 27.

DOI:10.1016/j.chiabu.2010.07.001

PMID:21030082

Abstract

OBJECTIVES

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have statutes outlining the grounds for terminating parental rights (TPR) in relation to child abuse and neglect. Although recent research has found that parents with disabilities are not more likely to maltreat their children than parents without disabilities (Glaun & Brown, 1999; Oyserman, Mowbray, Meares, & Firminger, 2000), studies have found very high rates of TPR of parents with disabilities (Accardo & Whitman, 1989). The objective of this study is to examine how states are including disability in their TPR statutes.

METHODS

This study used legal document analysis, consisting of a comprehensive Boolean search of the state codes of the 50 states and District of Columbia (DC) relating to TPR, using the most recent state code available on Lexis-Nexis in August 2005. TPR and related statutes were searched for contemporary and historical disability related terms and their common cognates, such as: "mental," "disability," "handicap," and "incapacity." Two researchers independently conducted the searches, and the searches were reconciled. A code list was then developed to measure for inclusion of disability, preciseness, scope, use of language, and references to accessibility or fairness. Statutes were then reanalyzed, and groupings developed.

RESULTS

Thirty-seven states included disability-related grounds for termination of parental rights, while 14 states did not include disability language as grounds for termination. Many of these state codes used outdated terminology, imprecise definitions, and emphasized disability status rather than behavior. All of the 14 states that do not include disability in TPR grounds allowed for termination based on neglectful parental behavior that may be influenced by a disability.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of disability language in TPR statutes can put an undue focus on the condition of having a disability, rather than parenting behavior.

IMPLICATIONS

This paper recommends that states consider removing disability language from their statutes, as such language risks taking the emphasis away from the assessment based on parenting behavior.

摘要

目的

所有 50 个州和哥伦比亚特区都有法规，概述了与虐待和忽视儿童有关的终止父母权利（TPR）的理由。尽管最近的研究发现，残疾父母虐待子女的可能性并不高于没有残疾的父母（Glaun 和 Brown，1999；Oyserman、Mowbray、Meares 和 Firminger，2000），但研究发现残疾父母的 TPR 率非常高（Accardo 和 Whitman，1989）。本研究的目的是检查各州如何在 TPR 法规中纳入残疾因素。

方法

本研究使用法律文件分析，对 50 个州和哥伦比亚特区（DC）的 TPR 相关州法规进行了全面的布尔搜索，使用 2005 年 8 月 Lexis-Nexis 上最新的州法规。搜索 TPR 和相关法规中与残疾相关的当代和历史术语及其常见同源词，例如：“mental”、“disability”、“handicap”和“incapacity”。两名研究人员独立进行了搜索，并对搜索结果进行了调和。然后制定了一个代码列表来衡量纳入残疾因素的程度、精确性、范围、语言使用以及对可及性或公平性的提及。然后重新分析法规，并进行分组。