The purpose of this paper is to determine the established law and make researches into non-institutional compulsory care (“mellantvång”) paragraph 22 The Care of Young Persons (Special Provisions) Act (from now on called LVU) and examine whether the administration of the law is in harmony with the best interests of the child. This paper combines two methods : traditional judicial method and a social science method. In the juridical part the sources of law have been studied and in the social sciences part semi-structured interviews have been conducted with five respondents. The theoretical framework consists of ideas and theories about the best interests of the child, a concept which is one of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child's core principles. This study shows that the legislator has identified a problem and an existing need and found a solution to this by introducing a non-institutional compulsory care, paragraph 22 LVU. The problem is that Social Services do not make use of the restraint. Only 30 decisions under § 22 LVU are taken annually in Sweden. For the legal rights of the individual and the best interests of the child, the Social Services are required to make decisions under this article instead of the current use of the informal threat of non-institutional compulsory care.

Esta pesquisa objetivou estudar o princípio do melhor interesse da criança tanto em seu viés teórico quanto prático, na tentativa de se concluir se é possível ou não adotar-se critérios predeterminados para serem seguidos na tomada de decisões em questões envolvendo crianças e adolescentes. Na primeira parte, teórica, estudou-se o conteúdo do melhor interesse, e se poderia ele ser entendido como regra de interpretação, direito fundamental ou princípio. Já a segunda parte, prática, buscou analisar como os tribunais vêm decidindo algumas questões que resvalam no melhor interesse. Para tal, alguns institutos foram selecionados (guarda, adoção, parto anônimo, visitas e educação). A análise da guarda passou pela sua diferenciação entre colocação em família substituta e atribuição a um dos pais em caso de separação. Discutiu-se a possibilidade de atribuição a terceira pessoa e de imposição da modalidade compartilhada. Estudou-se o direito de visitas para o caso de a guarda ter sido atribuída a somente um dos pais. Estendeu-se a pesquisa para a hipótese de garantir-se esse direito a amigos, padrastos, madrastas e padrinhos. A adoção foi estudada nas modalidades à brasileira, intuitu personae e internacional. Ainda, analisou-se a possibilidade de adoção por casal homoafetivo. Embora inexistente no direito brasileiro, o parto anônimo foi analisado para se observar se viável e necessário em nosso ordenamento. Por fim, estudou-se o direito à educação, realçando-se alguns aspectos como a possibilidade de o ensino ser realizado fora de estabelecimentos oficiais, transporte de crianças até suas escolas e a possibilidade de exigirem-se vagas em creches. / This research aimed to study the principle of the best interest of the child, both in theory and in practice, in an attempt to conclude whether it is possible or not to adopt predetermined criteria to be followed in making decisions on issues involving children and adolescents. In the first part, theoretical, the content of the best interest was studied, as well as the possibility of understanding it as a rule of interpretation, fundamental right or principle. The second part, practical, sought to analyze how the courts have been deciding issues involving the best interest. In doing so, some institutes were selected (guardianship, adoption, anonymous childbirth, visits and education). The analysis of the guardianship passed by differentiating between placement in foster family and its assignment to one of the parents in case of separation. The possibility of assigning it to a third person and the imposition of shared custody were discussed. The visitation rights in case when the custody has been awarded to only one parent was studied. The research was extended to the hypothesis of granting this right to friends, stepfathers, stepmothers and godfathers or godmothers. The research studied Brazilian, intuitu personae and international adoptions, as well as the possibility of adoption by homosexual couples. Although non-existing under Brazilian law, the anonymous childbirth was analyzed to observe if it is viable and needed in our system. Finally, the right of education was studied, and aspects such as the possibility of homeschooling, transportation of children to their schools and the requiring of vacancies in childcare facilities were highlighted.

This thesis deals with the protection of children in international refugee law. The status of a person seeking international protection under international law is primarily regulated by the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. However, this Convention does not expressly address the specific situation of the child asylum seeker. By adopting a binding Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the broad catalogue of basic civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of children has been confirmed. It includes the right of a child seeking international protection to obtain the necessary protection and humanitarian assistance when the child wants to exercise its rights under the CRC or other conventions of international law of human rights. CRC includes, inter alia, four fundamental principles, the elimination of discrimination, the right to life, survival and development, respect for the child's position and the principle of the best interests of the child. The goal of this thesis is to determine whether and how the position of the child seeking international protection under the international refugee law has been influenced by the CRC and by the principle of the best interests of the child. The thesis is divided into four chapters, the first two chapters deal with the historical...

The purpose of the study is to make preschool teachers’ experiences of the preschool's activities in relation to the best interests of the child visible. The study is based on the method of semi-structured interviews of a total of five preschool teachers.                             The results of the study show how the preschool teachers express the experience that the child should experience safety when they come to and stay in preschool. The preschool teachers describe how the attitude and sensitivity affect the child's opportunities for participation and influence. They express the importance of being present for the child to have influence, to be involved but also to have the opportunity to develop. At the same time, the results show how the preschool teachers expresses that it can be challenging to be sensitive to the child's expressions and feelings and not what the guardian thinks is the child's best interest in preschool. Furthermore, the results show how the reflection time varied among the preschool teachers and their experiences of more and less reflection time. What is prominent in the result is the preschool teachers' attitude towards the youngest preschool children. Some of the preschool teachers express the experience of working in a young children's department and how it includes that the youngest children have a harder time expressing themselves and having their own opinion. / Studiens syfte är att synliggöra förskollärarens upplevelser kring förskolans verksamhet i förhållande till barnets bästa. Till grund för studien ligger metoden semistrukturerade intervjuer av totalt fem förskollärare.                              Studiens resultat visar hur förskollärarna uttrycker upplevelser av att barnet ska uppleva tryggheten när de kommer till och vistas i förskolan. Förskollärarna beskriver hur förhållningssättet och lyhördheten påverkar barnets möjligheter till delaktighet och inflytande. De uttrycker vikten av att vara närvarande för att barnet ska få inflytande, vara delaktig men också för att få möjlighet att utvecklas. Samtidigt visar resultatet hur förskollärarna uttrycker att det kan vara utmanande att vara lyhörd för barnets uttryck och känslor och inte vad vårdnadshavaren menar är barnets bästa i förskolan. Vidare visar resultatet hur reflektionstiden varierade bland förskollärarna och deras erfarenheter av mer eller mindre reflektionstid. Det som är framträdande i resultatet är förskollärarnas förhållningssätt till de yngsta förskolebarnen. Enstaka förskollärare uttrycker erfarenheten av att arbeta på yngrebarnsavdelning och hur det innefattar att de yngsta barnen har svårare att uttrycka sig och ha en egen åsikt.

The society that we are living in has a responsibility to make sure that no children suffer from violence or any type of neglect. All authorities in society, as well as the social services and decision-making agencies have an obligation to protect and prioritize the best interests of the child in all types of decisions concerning children. In cases where children are at a tangible risk of harm due to circumstances at home, children can be involuntarily removed from their parents by law. In such circumstances, the child's parents do not consent to the child being taken care of according to law based on voluntariness. This requires a court care order according to LVU. In recent years, the public debate in Sweden has increased regarding when it is safe for a child who has been removed from its parents to move back home. Due to this societal debate, this study aims to define which factors affect as well as being most significant in the court's decision-making regarding when it is appropriate or not for a child to either stay in the foster family or to reunite with its parents. Furthermore, the study also aims to provide a deeper understanding on how the court considers on one hand the best interest of the child and on the other hand the parental perspective in their basis of verdict. The conflict of interest stands between whether the care of the child should cease or continue. The purpose of this study has been enabled through a qualitative review of 12 court decision orders which have been made between the years 2021-2022. The result shows that all 12 court orders decide that the compulsory care of the children should continue. The main reason in the courts basis for decision is that the circumstances that caused the care has not yet improved enough. In the review of the court decisions several significant themes occurred. One of the most significant themes were lack of lasting change among the parents. Moreover, another major theme was that the parents could not show insight in the situation. Lastly, the parents had a lack of ability to meet the children's needs, which in some cases were extensive. The result shows that the court considers the best interest of the child before the parental perspective. This appears while the court highlights each individual child and its needs. Meanwhile, the court also listens to the children who are old enough to express their feelings and opinions to a relatively large extent. Nevertheless, the court also shows understanding for the parents' will and desire to bring back their children. The court emphasizes what further needs to be achieved for the parents to reach a cessation of the compulsory care of their children.

This essay takes aim on the issue that the concept of the best interest of the child has no distinct legal definition. This essay means to explore how the concept is constructed by the social workers in investigations about custody, accommodation and contact. Furthermore, previous research suggests that social norms have an influence on the construction of the concept. Therefore, this essay also aims to understand if this is the case and to what extent norms have an influence on the construction of the best interest of the child. Finally, the goal is also to understand how legal certainty is affected by the influence of social norms. This essay uses a content analysis of investigations that are presented in the court’s legal documents. The content analysis uses the theoretical framework from Håkan Hydéns norm model. The results show that social workers mainly use circumstances in the individual case to create meaning of what is and what is not the best interest of the child. Social workers also use their own knowledge and experience, as well as scientific knowledge. Lastly, social workers sometimes use their own interpretations, opinions and values to give meaning to what the best interest of the child means. The results also show that there is room for norms to influence the assessment of what is in the best interest of the child, but at the same time the result can’t explain to what extent social norms have an influence. Furthermore, the results show that the influence of norms may affect the legal certainty of children negatively.

The purpose of this essay is to create an understanding of how social workers work to ensure that the best interest of the child is achieved in custody disputes. The essay is based on seven semi-structured interviews with practicing social workers working with family law. The gathered material was analyzed using a thematic analysis method. The results of the study show that working with the best interest of the child in mind, using a child´s perspective, is complex and difficult. One of the reasons why it is difficult is that there is no exact definition of what “the best interest of the child” is and how it should be realised by the social worker since the concept should be assessed and applied individually every single time. All of the respondents states that the investigation is imbued by the wellbeing of them say that ultimately the child´s best interest is not what is valued the most in the investigation. The material shows that all the respondents are aware that the children’s perspective should be prominent during the entirety of the investigation. It is a common goal amongst the respondents to always work with the children’s perspective in mind, to ensure the best interest of the child.

Three years ago (2020) the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) became law in Sweden. The social service in every municipality has a responsibility to take the children's best into consideration in cases that concern the child. When working with adults, children have to be considered as well. As a social service secretary, it is important to know how to interact with both adults as well as children. It is also important that the secretary implements a childperspective when making an assessment. The CRC is essential to allow the children to be heard as well as to be able to have an impact on decisions that affects them. The four basic principles in CRC are non- discrimination (article 2), the best interest of the child (article 3), the right to life and development (article 6) and having respect for the child's opinion (article 12). This paper is a qualitative study where the aim is to examine how the secretary in social services, on the addiction adult unit, works to achieve the CRCs basic principles in their daily undertakings. The four basic principles are analyzed through CRC and general systems theory to make an assumption as to how the addiction adult unit in Malmö implements the CRC. Five caseworkers on the addiction adult unit were interviewed whereof three is child rights representatives. The result shows that it is up to each secretary to take the CRC in consideration when their client has a child. The lack of knowledge of what all the different units in social service do, is one reason why the cooperation between the units is hard, and sometimes unmotivated. The child rights representatives on the addiction adult unit are working on educating their colleges on how they are supposed to manage a case where the client has a child. At present, the CRC is not perceived to be implemented in the daily work at the addiction adult unit in Malmö. Previous research points to this being the case in more areas within both laws and other operations.

Syftet med denna studie är att identifiera socialsekreterarens framgångsfaktorer i samtal med barn. Studien tar utgångspunkt i socialsekreteraren perspektiv kring vad de tycker är det som får det att fungera isamtal med barn inom socialtjänsten. För att identifiera framgångsfaktorer i samtalet så blir det nödvändigt att även belysa när det fungerar mindre bra i samtal med barn.Studien är en kvalitativ intervjustudie där sex yrkesverksamma socialsekreterare intervjuats. Samtliga jobbar med barnsamtal på socialtjänsten inom Umeå kommun. Studien har tillämpat en semistrukturerad intervjuform och studiens data har bearbetats enligt konventionell innehållsanalys för att identifiera vad som möjliggör och vad som försvårar samtal med barn. Inledningsvis utgick inte studien från någon vetenskapsteoretisk grund men efter att resultatet bearbetats ansågs utvecklingspsykologisk teori tillämplig för att få en bättre förståelse för studiens resultat. De identifierade framgångsfaktorerna i samtal med barn utmynnade i vikten för socialsekreteraren att kunna känna tilltro för sin kompetens även när det finns organisatoriska utmaningar. Exempel på identifierade framgångsfaktorer är flexibilitet, trygghet i yrkesrollen, kunna skapa allians, nyfikenhet, förförståelse för barnets utveckling, att inte vara dömande i yrkesrollen samt att se till barnets bästa. Studiens slutsats belyser att socialsekreteraren blir det viktigaste verktyget i samtal med barn.

<p>The purpose of this paper is to investigate on what basis a child is committed into care according to the law and to see on which grounds the decision about committed child care in law practice are taken when a child is committed to care due to parents who are mentally retarded. To better understand the juridical grounds for these decisions I will also in a short background describe the meaning of the term mentally retarded, how mental retardation and parenthood has changed over time and how different opinions are expressed in the law. Both people with mental retardation and children have in recent years gained their rights and sometimes these rights end up in conflict with one another. In those cases, what is in the best interest of the child, should be decisive. The children who have mentally retarded parents are at risk to not have their physical, psychological, emotional, social and intellectual needs met and are therefore being unfavourable developed. LVU gives possibilities for the right to intervene in the relation between child and parent through committing the child into care against the parent’s will. This law is supposed to be used in those cased when the child is being exposed to bad conditions which implies an obvious risk for the health and development of the child and when care cannot be given voluntarily. In my study it is discovered that the Supreme Court has decided cases where children with parents who are mentally retarded or have similar problems has been committed into care. The retardation in itself is not reason enough for the child to be committed into care, it is the consequences which are determining. The Supreme Court approved the Social service request concerning committing care in three of the eleven cases I have studied and they stated lack in material, social and intellectual areas, and also the immatureness of the parents and the inability to put the child’s need first. In the other cases I have studied the Supreme Court declined the requests from the Social service and motive it different in each case. They referred to the lack of necessary qualifications, that siblings has managed well, that supporting measures in the home should be sufficient etc. In my study I can clearly see that the demand for evidence about lack in care is increased by every instance. My study also show that the Supreme Court to a relatively great extent tend to decide against the Social service, experts and the opinion of public counsels. My opinion is that the perspective of the child is at risk of being put aside if the court lower their demands on good parenthood for parents with mental retardation.</p>