The child perspective is a complex area primarily because of its many ways of interpretation but also because children are considered to be less competent than adults. Our hypothesis was that adults in court-proceedings make decisions in the child’s place. The aim of this study was to investigate the judicial meaning of the child perspective in “Socialtjänstlagen” (SoL) and “lag om särskilda bestämmelser om vård av unga” (LVU). The purpose was also to explore how the child perspective was presented in rulings from the Public Court according to LVU 3§, in the prerequisite “annat socialt nedbrytande beteende”. The choice of method was based on our main purpose and therefore the legal dogmatic and the qualitative methods were applied. The child perspective in Swedish legislation emphasizes the child’s best interest and the child’s right to be heard. There have been problems recognizing children’s legitimate interests which are one of the reasons why adults are considered to protect those interests by speaking for the child although they may have different interests. The result was that the child’s voice was inadequately asserted in legal processes which indicated that the child perspective wasn’t used as intended according to the law and government bill.

Barnets bästa beskrivs av forskare som ett svårdefinierat begrepp. Trots detta är begreppet lagstadgat och ska vara avgörande för alla beslut kring vårdnad, boende och umgänge. Syftet med studien har varit att undersöka Gävle tingsrätts diskussion av barnets bästa i vårdnads-, boende- och umgängesdomar under åren 1992, 2002 och 2012 samt om det skett någon förändring över tid. En form av textanalys användes för att analysera empirin som sedan studerades med socialkonstruktionistisk och rättssociologisk teori. Det mest framträdande resultatet var att tingsrättens diskussion kring barnets bästa oftast skett indirekt, där ingen direkt motivering har gjorts huruvida en viss situation är till barnets bästa eller inte. Emellertid har direkta referenser till begreppet barnets bästa ökat, främst i domarna från år 2012. Resultatet kan antas härröra ur de reformer som gjorts i föräldrabalken år 2006. En annan viktig slutsats vi kommit fram till rör hur barnets bästa alltid verkar vara situationsbundet. / The child's best interest is described by researchers as elusive. Despite this, the concept is statutory and should be essential to decisions regarding custody, residence and contact. The purpose of this study was to inquire Gävle district court's discussion of the child's best interest in custody, residence and contact judgments in 1992, 2002 and 2012, and to study whether the arguing changed over time. Text analysis was applied to analyze data which then was studied by perspectives of socialconstructionism and sociology of law. A prominent result was that the district court's discussion of the child’s best interest is usually made indirectly. However, direct references to the concept of the child’s best interest increased, mainly in the judgments from 2012. This result might derive from the reforms made in the Swedish Parental Code in 2006. Another important conclusion we have come to concern is that the child’s best interest seem to be inconstant.

This qualitative document study aimed to examine how the district court has judged the visitation rights for children subjected to violence at home; in accordance with the Children and Parents Code chapter 6, section 2a and 2b. Therefore a qualitative content analysis was used to analyse cases of visitation in 14 district court sentences. The sociology of childhood constituted the study's theoretical perspective. The research identified weaknesses in how the district court interpreted and applied the principles of the child's best interest and participation. The need for close and quality contact seemed apparent to the district court, while the need of protection was assessed with more flexibility and contextuality. The result also found that the violence was occasionally disregarded and the consideration of children's opinions varied. Additionally, the child's participation was limited to consultation alone. These shortcomings could lead to children being forced to undergo visitations with a violent parent. / Den här kvalitativa dokumentstudien syftade till att undersöka hur tingsrätten, utifrån föräldrabalken 6 kap. 2a och 2b §§, bedömde umgängesrätten för barn som hade utsatts för våld i hemmet. För att besvara syftet genomfördes en kvalitativ innehållsanalys av 14 tingsrättsdomar i mål om umgänge. Barndomssociologin utgjorde studiens teoretiska perspektiv. Resultatet identifierade brister i hur tingsrätten tolkat och tillämpat principerna om barnets bästa och barnets rätt till delaktighet. Det framstod som att tingsrätten betraktade behovet av en nära och god kontakt med båda föräldrarna som självklart, medan behovet av skydd bedömdes mer flexibelt och kontextuellt. Resultatet belyste också att tingsrätten ibland bortsåg från våldet och att barnets åsikter beaktades i varierande omfattning. Barnets delaktighet begränsades dessutom till enbart konsultation. En konsekvens av dessa brister var att barn riskerade att tvingas till umgänge med en våldsam förälder.

Uppsatsens övergripande syfte är att undersöka om, och i så fall hur, unga vuxnas erfarenheter av separation och vårdnadstvist mellan föräldrarna under barndomen inverkat när det gäller inställning till samlevnadsfrågor. Mer konkret är avsikten att söka svar på frågor som beaktar principen om barnets bästa, attityder gentemot relationer, separationer och giftermål liksom dagens relation till föräldrarna. Tolkningsramen som användes för att tolka och förstå uppsatsens empiriska material baseras på de inledande bestämmelserna enligt 6 kap. föräldrabalken, några risker med socialarbetarens förhållningssätt, barnets känsla av ansvar, lojalitet och hemlighållande, barnets överlevnadsstrategier och kognitiv dissonansteori. Dessa tolkningsredskap var effektiva för att belysa unga vuxnas erfarenheter från barndomen och deras attityder till samlevnadsfrågor. En kvalitativ metodansats tillämpades för att inhämta det empiriska materialet och fem kvinnliga respondenter intervjuades med hjälp av en semistrukturerad intervjuguide. Uppsatsens slutsatser indikerar att principen om barnets bästa inte alltid beaktades för de unga vuxna under barndomen. Deras attityder gentemot relationer, separationer och giftermål präglas av en öppen inställning till olika familjekonstellationer med goda kvalitéer, positiva respektive negativa följder av föräldrarnas separation och uppfattningen om att vilja gifta sig i framtiden. Dagens relation till den ena föräldern har visat sig vara fortsatt god medan relationen till den andra föräldern varierar. / The purpose of the essay is to examine whether, and if so how, young adults' experiences of separation and contested custody between parents during childhood influenced their attitudes to coexistence issues. Further, the intention is to seek answers to questions regarding: the best interests of the child, attitudes towards relationships, separation and marriage, as well as the current relationship to the parents. The interpretative framework adopted to interpret and understand the empirical material is based on the initial provisions under chapter 6, some risks with the social workers' approach, the children's sense of responsibility, loyalty and concealment, the child’s survival strategies as well as cognitive dissonance theory.  These are considered effective to highlight young adults' experiences in childhood and their attitudes to coexistence issues. A qualitative method was applied to obtain the empirical material. Five female respondents were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. The essay’s findings indicate that the principle of the child’s best interests is not always applicable for the young adults during childhood. Their attitude towards relationships, separation and marriage is characterized by an open attitude to different family constellations with good qualities, positive and negative consequences of their parents' separation and a desire to get married in the future. The relationship today remains good with one parent, while the relationship with the other parent differs.

Syftet med studien var att utifrån ett omsorgs- och delaktighetsperspektiv analysera bedömningen av barnets bästa i umgängesfrågor, i de fall där en förälder utövat våld mot den andra föräldern. För att besvara vårt syfte har vi använt oss av tre frågeställningar; Vad innebär barnets bästa för de yrkesverksamma som kommer i kontakt med barn som bevittnat våld? Vad innebär bevittnat våld för de yrkesverksamma och hur beaktas detta av de som arbetar med barnen? Hur mycket inflytande anser de yrkesverksamma att barnet ska ges vid processer som rör dem? För att samla in material utfördes sju intervjuer med yrkesverksamma som genom sitt arbete träffar barn som bevittnat våld, samt är mer eller mindre i direkt kontakt med beslut gällande umgänge mellan barn och en våldsutövande förälder. Materialet har sedan analyserats utifrån rådande lagstiftning, tidigare forskning, samt barndomssociologin och delaktighetsstegen. Vi kom i vår studie fram till att de yrkesverksamma fann att barnets bästa var att ha kontakt med båda sina föräldrar. De hade en vid uppfattning om vad begreppet bevittnat våld innefattade, dock togs detta inte till stor hänsyn i det praktiska arbetet. Från vårt resultat gick att urskilja att det är olika faktorer som spelar in i hur mycket ett barn delaktiggörs. / The purpose of the study was that from a caring and participation perspective to analyze the assessment of the best interests of the child regarding visitation matters, in cases where a parent used violence against the other parent. The purpose is broken down into three main questions; What does the best interests of the child mean to the professionals who gets in contact with children who have witnessed violence? What does witnessing violence mean to the professionals and how is this taken into account by those who work with children? How much influence considers the professionals that the child should be given in the processes that affect them? In order to answer our purpose we performed seven interviews with professionals who, through their work meet children who have witnessed violence, and are more or less in direct contact with the decision regarding visitation between children and a violent parent. The material was then analyzed based on current laws, earlier research, as well as childhood sociology and ladder of participation.Our result showed that the professionals found that the child’s best interest was to have contact with both parents. They had a broad idea of what the concept witnessed violence included, but this were not considered in the practical work. Our results also showed that there are different factors that play into how much the child was involved.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur socialsekreterare beaktar barnets bästa när ett våldsutsatt barn placeras i familjehem. Därmed har socialsekreterares uppfattning av barnets bästa, hur det tillämpas vid placering av våldsutsatt barn samt huruvida handlingsutrymmet är tillräckligt stort för att kunna beakta barnets bästa undersökts. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna för arbetet är empowerment samt Michael Lipskys definition av gräsrotsbyråkratens handlingsutrymme. Studien utgår ifrån ett kvalitativt angreppssätt i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer mot bakgrund av ett målinriktat urval. Resultatet från intervjuerna har analyserats tematiskt och utgör således grunden för vidare diskussion. Resultatet i studien visar främst på att socialsekreterare tolkar barnets bästa genom att se till barnets skydd och trygghet. Detta tillämpas genom att göra barnet mer delaktig i beslutsprocessen genom att ta hänsyn till barnets önskemål vid placering. Samt ständigt se till barnets specifika situation och därmed ta beslut och överväga faktorer som säkerställer barnets trygghet. Resultatet visade även olika uppfattningar kring socialsekreterarnas handlingsutrymme där en del ansåg sig ha tillräckligt med handlingsutrymme för att kunna ta beslut för barnets bästa, medan övriga upplevde det motsatta. Samtliga intervjupersoner stod dock eniga i att det främsta som hindrar deras handlingsutrymme är bristen på familjehem. / The aim of this study is to examine how social workers consider the child’s best interest when an abused child is placed in a foster home. Thus, the social workers’ perception of the child’s best interest, how it is considered when placing an abused child in foster care and whether the social worker discretion is large enough to be able to take the child's best interest into consideration has been investigated. The theoretical framework from which the study is based upon is empowerment and Michael Lipsky's definition of the discretion of street-level bureaucrats. The study is assessed using a qualitative approach in the form of semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample. The results from the interviews have been thematically analyzed and thus form the basis for further discussion. The results of the study mainly show that social workers perceive the best interest of the child by ensuring their protection and safety. This is applied by making the child more involved in the decision-making by taking the child’s desires into consideration when placing the child. Also, by constantly looking at the child’s specific situation and thus making decisions that ensures the child’s safety. The results also showed different perceptions regarding the social worker discretion where some participants felt they had enough discretion to make decisions in the best interest of the child, whereas some participants felt the contrary. However, all participants agreed upon the fact that the main difficulty with their discretion is the lack of foster homes.

<p>The opinion of social workers towards their work with children and young persons was</p><p>studied in this essay. Even their point of view with reference to the term the child’s best</p><p>interest has being considered and special focus was laid on the social workers attitudes</p><p>towards media coverage and its criticism towards their work. A qualitative approach was used</p><p>consisted of six interviews. The theoretical frameworks were based on the theory about</p><p>freedom of action and the theory of social representations. Our result showed that almost all</p><p>of the interviewees felt a relatively high freedom of action in their work within the framework</p><p>of the law and other policies and that despite the difficulties this can imply, they still enjoy</p><p>working with this target group. Concerning the term the child’s best interest, all of</p><p>interviewees said that it is very good that it exists but that it is also difficult to define since it</p><p>depends on whom one asks. Nearly all of the social workers thought that media coverage is</p><p>one-sided and very negative.</p>

The opinion of social workers towards their work with children and young persons was studied in this essay. Even their point of view with reference to the term the child’s best interest has being considered and special focus was laid on the social workers attitudes towards media coverage and its criticism towards their work. A qualitative approach was used consisted of six interviews. The theoretical frameworks were based on the theory about freedom of action and the theory of social representations. Our result showed that almost all of the interviewees felt a relatively high freedom of action in their work within the framework of the law and other policies and that despite the difficulties this can imply, they still enjoy working with this target group. Concerning the term the child’s best interest, all of interviewees said that it is very good that it exists but that it is also difficult to define since it depends on whom one asks. Nearly all of the social workers thought that media coverage is one-sided and very negative.