Paradigm is defined by the dictionary as an example that serves as a pattern or model.
The short, sad life of Shirley Wilder is a paradigm of what happens to children born into the hardest hard-core poverty. By the time the 12 year old Wilder turned up in Manhattan’s family court just before Christmas in 1972 the world had essentially abandoned her – as a homeless child in New York City her hope of being taken in and sent to a foster home which could provide her a place to live like – well, like a child was pretty much extinguished. She was not a Catholic or Jewish and agencies representing these two faiths ran most of the cities foster care homes. Shirley Wilder’s life provides another kind of paradigm. This one is legal.
The case based on it is a paradigm of how a dedicated, tenacious lawyer can change the system – even if it takes more than two decades to see the case through. By studying paradigms we learn about the structures of our society.
9Hosted by Michael Goldfarb)
Guests:
Nina Bernstein, New York Times reporter and author, “The Lost Children of Wilder: The Epic Struggle to Change Foster Care”.