ABSTRACT
'Parental adequacy,
parenting failure and parents with learning difficulties'
Tim Booth and
Wendy Booth
Health and Social Care in the Community,
2, 1994, pp. 161-172
The incidence of
parenting failure among people with learning difficulties is
widely presumed to be high although existing research is characterised
by a number of methodological shortcomings. Drawing on material
from an in-depth study of people with learning difficulties,
this paper shows that the three variables commonly used for assessing
parental inadequacy - child care problems within the family,
the admission of a child into care and the termination of parental
rights - cannot be taken at face value as evidence of lack of
competence or parenting failure. Such outcomes are often mistakenly
attributed to parenting deficits when they are more accurately
viewed as deficiencies in services or supports. The implications
for future research and professional practice are considered.
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