Mandatory Supporting as a Radical Ethic of Care: Supporting, Not Reporting, Black Disabled Mothers

Authors

Siobhan M. Pokorney, The Graduate Center, CUNYFollow

Keywords

family regulation, racism, ableism, disability gain, disability justice, abolition

Abstract

Racism and ableism are intricately linked in the United States. Since the antebellum period, disability has been weaponized against the Black population. As the overriding punitive institution of white supremacy has shifted from slavery to mass incarceration with time, the experiences of Black disabled people within this institution have changed little. Black disabled individuals are at greater risk of harm at every step of the criminal legal system. Furthermore, the prison system exacerbates and creates debilitation and disability for those who are incarcerated. The family regulation system is the adjacent punitive system to mass incarceration, disproportionately impacting Black disabled women and their families. Much like the carceral system, it investigates, monitors, and punishes Black disabled women for acting outside of white, middle-class, hetero-normative parenting styles. Instead of addressing the structural oppressions that marginalize Black disabled mothers, the family regulation system tears apart their families. The following essay addresses this undertheorized area of the family regulation system, there is currently little focus on the intersection of racism and ableism. This essay puts forth Black disabled motherhood within the framework of “disability gain” and the history of relational care, countering the white middle-class, hetero-normative kinship practices that are normalized by the family regulation system. It argues that abolition of the family regulation system is possible and promotes, in the absence of immediate abolition of family policing and broader policy changes, an individual's refusal to participate in the harmful practices of mandated reporting against Black disabled mothers.

Recommended Citation

Pokorney, Siobhan M. (2024) "Mandatory Supporting as a Radical Ethic of Care: Supporting, Not Reporting, Black Disabled Mothers," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 51: Iss. 1, Article 10.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.4722
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol51/iss1/10