The Road To Hell: State Violence Against Children In Postwar New Zealand
by Elizabeth Stanley /
2017 / English / EPUB
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From the 1950s to the 1980s, the New Zealand government took more
than 100,000 children from experiences of strife, neglect,
poverty or family violence and placed them under state care in
residential facilities. In homes like Epuni and Kingslea,
Kohitere and Allendale, the state took over as parent. The state
failed. Within institutions, children faced abysmal conditions,
limited education and social isolation. They endured physical,
sexual and psychological violence, as well as secure cells,
knock-out sedatives and electro-convulsive therapy. This book
tells the story of 105 New Zealanders who experienced this mass
institutionalisation. Informed by thousands of pages of Child
Welfare accounts, letters, health reports, legal statements as
well as interviews, Stanley tells the children’s story: growing
up in homes characterized by violence and neglect; removal into
the State’s ‘care’ network; daily life in the institutions;
violence and punishment; and the legacy of this treatment for
victims today. The state masqueraded as a good parent, but its
violence and negligence made things worse for children. This book
is a moving account of the experiences of those placed into state
care, and a powerful call for redress and change.
From the 1950s to the 1980s, the New Zealand government took more
than 100,000 children from experiences of strife, neglect,
poverty or family violence and placed them under state care in
residential facilities. In homes like Epuni and Kingslea,
Kohitere and Allendale, the state took over as parent. The state
failed. Within institutions, children faced abysmal conditions,
limited education and social isolation. They endured physical,
sexual and psychological violence, as well as secure cells,
knock-out sedatives and electro-convulsive therapy. This book
tells the story of 105 New Zealanders who experienced this mass
institutionalisation. Informed by thousands of pages of Child
Welfare accounts, letters, health reports, legal statements as
well as interviews, Stanley tells the children’s story: growing
up in homes characterized by violence and neglect; removal into
the State’s ‘care’ network; daily life in the institutions;
violence and punishment; and the legacy of this treatment for
victims today. The state masqueraded as a good parent, but its
violence and negligence made things worse for children. This book
is a moving account of the experiences of those placed into state
care, and a powerful call for redress and change.