When Foster Care Fosters Conspiracy Theory:A Textual Analysis of the Fightcps Website

Abstract

Conspiracy theories often circulate in spaces where there are gaps between expectations and reality. Life course ruptures, or experiences/events that deviate from culturally expected paths (Becker, 1997), offer sites ripe for the emergence of conspiracy theories. The present study examines the (conspiracy) theories that emerge in the context of family life course ruptures that occur through children’s (potential) placement in foster care. The authors employ symbolic interactionism and thematic analysis to examine parents’ talk about their experiences with/understandings of (i.e., social meanings) and advice about (i.e., acting toward) child welfare services, on a website dedicated to promoting “family rights” and fighting Child Protective Services. The findings (a) illustrate the ways in which fears, frustrations, and (conspiracy) theories are social constituted and linked with potential actions and (b) hold both theoretical (i.e., extending SI to applied and conspiracy theory contexts) and practical (e.g., better attending to parents’ self- and world-views) implications.

Keywords: child welfare, conspiracy theory, foster care, life course rupture, symbolic interaction