Vulnerable families are subject to a myriad of State interventions. In this article, we analyse how interventions of the neo-liberal State may undermine, rather than activate, the caring capabilities of vulnerable families across the life course. We define ‘vulnerable families’ as financially disadvantaged families with complex and enduring needs. Drawing on examples from Australia, England and the USA, we consider how neo-liberal policy reforms may weaken the caring capabilities of these families. We focus our analysis on vulnerable families who have been subject to one of the most intrusive forms of state intervention: the removal of a child. We explain Bourdieu’s concept of ‘misrecognition’ and outline its utility for analysing the neo-liberal state’s failure to recognise and develop the caring function of birth families. We consider the implications of this analysis for the development of a critical research and policy agenda with vulnerable families.

中文翻译：

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承认被驱逐儿童的出生家庭的照顾能力：迈向关键的政策议程

弱势家庭受到无数国家干预的影响。在本文中，我们分析了新自由主义国家的干预如何削弱而不是激活弱势家庭在整个生命过程中的关怀能力。我们将“弱势家庭”定义为具有复杂和持久需求的经济弱势家庭。借鉴澳大利亚、英国和美国的例子，我们考虑新自由主义政策改革如何削弱这些家庭的照顾能力。我们将分析重点放在遭受国家干预最具侵入性形式之一的弱势家庭上：带走一个孩子。我们解释了布迪厄的“误认”概念，并概述了它在分析新自由主义国家未能认识到和发展出生家庭的照顾功能方面的效用。