Why we must end mandatory reporting laws
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6421052 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alan J Dettlaff (0000-0002-4042-7282, University of Houston, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Pages | 1-17 |
| Publication date | 2025-04-07 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Critical and Radical Social Work (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2049-8675 • E-ISSN: 2049-8608 |
| Publisher | Bristol University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1332/20498608y2025d000000077 |
| OpenAlex | W4409233016 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 25 |
Recent policy shifts in the US targeting families with transgender and gender-nonconforming children have highlighted how mandatory reporting laws can be weaponized by the state to harm those it deems undesirable. Yet, the harms that result from mandatory reporting laws, particularly to racialized children and families, have been documented for decades. Since their origins, mandatory reporting laws have been deemed an ineffective policy solution for addressing child maltreatment, which, along with the harms they cause, has resulted in calls for their elimination. This article will review the history of mandatory reporting laws in the US and the outcomes that have resulted and offer a new path forward that offers support rather than surveillance and punishment
Business · Political science · Child and Adolescent Health · Criminal Law and Evidence · Gun Ownership and Violence Research · Law
The Battered-Child Syndrome
Mandated reporters’ experiences with reporting child maltreatment
Different Year, Different Jurisdiction, but the Same Findings
Caught in the Crossroad
Lived Experiences of Racism Among Child Welfare-Involved Parents
Proximity to SNAP-authorized retailers and child maltreatment reports
Persistent racial disproportionality in investigated and substantiated child maltreatment reports
Differences in Racially Disproportionate Reporting of Child Maltreatment Across Report Sources
The Impact of Mandatory Reporting Laws on Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence
Linking state child care and child welfare policies and populations
Comparing reports of suspected child maltreatment in states with and without Universal Mandated Reporting
Money matters
The American Journal of Public Health
Cumulative Prevalence of Confirmed Maltreatment and Foster Care Placement for US Children by Race/Ethnicity, 2011–2016
Cumulative Rates of Child Protection Involvement and Terminations of Parental Rights in a California Birth Cohort, 1999–2017
Lifetime Prevalence of Investigating Child Maltreatment Among US Children
Universal Mandatory Reporting Policies and the Odds of Identifying Child Physical Abuse
Child protective services decision-making
The social construction of child abuse
The medicalization and legalization of child abuse
Mapping the Margins
White Rage
Policing Is Reproductive Oppression
Getting Eyes in the Home
Violence against Children
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |