In this paper we are concerned with how restrictions of parental rights are assessed, understood and justified in state interventions, specifically in child protection removals of newborns. In most states it is the courts or court-like bodies that have the authority to make decisions about such restriction of parental rights, and our data material for the analysis is the written judgements that justified that an intervention is considered necessary or not. Our aim is to understand the actual reasoning and justification of a child protection intervention that concerns the best interests of a newborn baby, and especially we focus our analysis to the courts considerations of parental capacities. Our study contributes to the discussions about the legitimacy of state interventions, as well as improve our understanding of the principle of the child’s best interests and how it is balanced against parental rights.

Conference Details

EUSARF2018
2-5 October 2018, Porto, Portugal
Organiser: European Scientific Association on Residential & Family Care for Children and Adolescents

Keywords
Child Protection; Child Welfare; Social Work; Family Care
Discipline(s) – Social Work, Child Care