In many of the disputes concerning custody, residence and visitation determined by the court, some form of violence has been performed. The consequence of a child who has witnessed violence in their homes is a problem that is sometimes overlooked. It is not unusual that the violence will continue even after a separation. The law shows that the child´s need of both parents is to be met. This has according to previous studies resulted in the fact that courts do not always see visitation with a violent parent as a risk for the child. This is the reason why we wanted to investigate this further. The aim of our study was to examine and describe how courts argue for decisions regarding a child's contact with a parent who is suspected of having used violence in the family, based on current laws. The method of the study was document analysis and the material consisted of ten Swedish court cases from the years 2010 and 2011. The starting point of the analysis was the sociology of childhood together with the concepts “child’s perspective” and “the perspective of the child”. The court cases were analyzed on basis of the law, our analytical framework and previous research. Our study shows that the court considers it important for the child with a near and well contact with both parents. The results also show that the will of the child not seems as important to take into account as the child’s best interests or the risk that the child gets hurt.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur familjerättssekreterares tolkar och beaktar barnets bästa i vårdnadstvistutredningar. Studien baseras på nio kvalitativa, semistrukturerade intervjuer. Studien kommer att behandla barnets bästa, föräldraförmåga och risker för barnet. I resultatet framkommer att begreppet “barnets bästa” är svårt att definiera men att familjerättssekreterarna ser till barnets utsatta situation. Forskning och studiens resultat pekar på att barn i vårdnadstvistutredningar är i en utsatt situation och offer för föräldrars konflikt. Resultatet visar att familjerättssekreterare ser att föräldrar i en vårdnadstvist uppvisar bristande föräldraförmåga i jämförelse med föräldrar som inte är i vårdnadstvist och de kan därför inte tillgodose barnets behov av trygghet och stabilitet. I diskussionen kopplas studiens resultat samman med tidigare forskning samt systemteorin och handlingsteorin. Det visar sig att systemteorin kan ses som en utgångspunkt i familjerättssekreterares arbete även om det inte uttrycks som så. Det framkommer att familjerättssekreterare känner en frihet i sitt handlingsutrymme och att de utför målinriktade handlingar. / The study aims to investigate how family secretaries interpret and consider the child's best interests in custody investigations. The study is based on nine qualitative, semi-structured interviews. The study will address the child's best interests, parental ability and risks for the child. The result shows that the term "best interests of the child" is difficult to define, but that the family secretaries look to the child's vulnerable situation. Research and study results indicate that children in child custody disputes are in a vulnerable situation and victims of parental conflict. The result shows that family secretaries see that parents in a custody dispute show a lack of parental ability compared to parents who are not in custody disputes and therefore cannot meet the child's need for security and stability. In the discussion, the results of the study are linked to previous research as well as system theory and action theory. It turns out that the system theory can be seen as a starting point in the work of family secretaries, even if it is not expressed as such. It shows that family secretaries feel freedom in their room for maneuver and that they carry out targeted actions.

SAMMANFATTNING Studiens syfte var att undersöka om det förekommer könsdiskriminering mot fäder i vårdnadstvister. Frågeställningar och syften som användes var: (1) Att undersöka om könsdiskriminering mot pappor i vårdnadstvister existerar. (2) Om och hur pappor upplever ett könsdiskriminerande bemötande på familjerättsenheter. För att besvara frågeställningarna användes en mixad design bestående av en kvantitativ vinjettstudie och en kvalitativ analys av texter. Vinjettstudien riktades mot familjerättssekreterare inom socialtjänsten som i sitt yrke arbetar med frågor som hanterar vårdnad, boende och umgänge i vårdnadstvister mellan två vårdnadshavare. Inom den kvalitativa delen, annonserade författarna till studien efter fäders egna upplevelser av en vårdnadstvist. Annonseringen skedde på ett pappaforum på internet. Resultaten analyserades i ett mångdimensionellt perspektiv. Resultaten i vinjettstudien visade inte på diskriminering när respondenterna skulle göra riskbedömningar efter kön. Däremot hittades diskriminering mot fäder när respondenterna skulle bedöma vårdnad, boende och umgänge. Här bedömdes modern som den bäst lämpade trots att vårdnadshavarna hade identiska bakgrunder. I den kvalitativa tolkningen av fäders texter var det mest framträdande att de var övertygade om att deras biologiska kön var en belastning i en vårdnadstvist. / Gender discrimination against fathers in custody disputes? Does gender discrimination against men exist in custody disputes and, if so, how do the fathers perceive the treatment from social services? ABSTRACT The objective of the study was to examine whether gender discrimination against fathers exists in custody disputes. The issues and aims used were: (1) To examine whether gender discrimination against fathers exists in custody disputes. (2) If and how fathers perceive a gender discriminating treatment from family law departments. In order to answer the issues a mixed design consisting of a quantitative vignette study and a qualitative analysis of texts was used. The vignette study was directed towards social workers working within family law departments who handle issues regarding custody, residency and access in custody disputes between two guardians. Within the qualitative part, the authors advertised for fathers' personal experiences of a custody dispute. The announcement was made on a forum on the internet, especially aimed at fathers. The results were analysed through a multidimensional perspective. The results of the vignette study showed no evidence of discrimination regarding the respondents risk assessments based on gender. However, the study revealed discrimination against fathers when the respondents were to assess matters regarding custody, residency and access. Here the mother was deemed as the most suitable, despite the fact that the guardians had identical backgrounds. In the qualitative interpretation of texts written by fathers the most prominent was that they were convinced that their gender was a encumbrance in a custody dispute.

The aim of this study was to understand which factors that lay the foundation for social workers’ custody investigations and the judges’ decisions in custody disputes. Additionally, it was to examine the social workers’ and the judges’ views on children’s’ rights in this process. The study was based on qualitative research where six semi-structured interviews were conducted. Four social workers and two judges working with custody- investigations, and disputes were interviewed. The analysis consists of two key concepts: the concept of discretion and child sociology. The result shows that judges and social workers experience difficulties with interpreting the best interest of the child, that there are different perceptions about when lone and joint custody should be considered and how to best design the rights of access. A common consensus among the interviewees with regards to the best interest of the child, is that each situation requires an individual interpretation while considering necessary safety aspects. Social workers’ statements tend to dominate how the best interests of a child is defined in a judge’s decision. Both professions find ways to accommodate the best interests of the child, even though it does not always turn out ideal. There is a strong believe that the child’s voice is governing the decision, even though our study shows that it is not always considered in the custody investigations nor in court.

Syftet med denna studie har varit att jämföra tingsrättens domar i vårdnadstvister där det uppges att våld mellan föräldrar förekommit med socialtjänstens riktlinjer för vårdnad- boende- och umgängesutredningar, för att analysera vilka förväntningar på föräldrarna som beskrivs. För att besvara syftet har en dokumentstudie gjorts, där tingsrättens domar och Socialstyrelsens handbok gällande vårdnad, boende och umgänge analyserats genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Socialkonstruktionism, genusregimer och den modercentrerade familjemodellen har använts som teoretiska perspektiv och analysbegrepp. Studien har visat att tingsrättens och socialtjänstens förväntningar på föräldrar stämmer till stor del överens med varandra. I studien har det bland annat kunnat observeras i domarna att mammor får ett större ansvar för barnens och pappornas relation till varandra, att skydda barnen från våld, att hålla barnen utanför föräldrarnas konflikt och att få samarbetet mellan föräldrarna att fungera. Samarbete mellan föräldrarna och barnets kontakt med båda föräldrarna har lyfts fram både i domarna och handboken som en viktig grund i bedömningen. Dessa aspekter har i vissa domar resulterat i att våldet hamnat i skymundan i bedömningarna. Trots detta tas våldet i regel i beaktning, men i varierande grad och i de flesta fall bedöms föräldrars uppgifter om våld som trovärdiga av tingsrätten och socialtjänsten. Slutsatsen dras att tingsrätten i deras bedömningar har högre förväntningar på mammor och deras föräldraskap än på pappor och att våldets konsekvenser för varken barn eller föräldrar sällan tas i beaktning. I socialtjänstens handbok framgår liknande förväntningar på föräldrar som hos tingsrätten, dock är dessa förväntningar könsneutrala.

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.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:31:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Camila Miyagui.pdf: 1311252 bytes, checksum: 5223d672be5c99bf61c60aba21ca7162 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-29 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This research presents an analysis of social and psychological reports dispatched by the family court of the judicial district of the state of São Paulo that are related to lawsuits from ex-couples that fight in court for child custody. It investigates the concepts of childhood and best interests of the child manifested on the judiciary technicians and law professionals discourses; the criteria used to determine the parent(s) ability(ies) related to custody activities; the parameters for the definition of family, family conflict and custody award. It analyzes the reports according with the recommendations of the Federal Council of Psychology and the Federal Council of Social Service. Two lawsuits were selected, one concerning modified custody and the other concerning joint custody. The theoretical background are the Vygotsky's social-historic psychology and its categories of analysis, meanings and significances, along with Foucault's considerations about legal practices. The results point different ways of understanding family dynamics, relations of parenthood and affiliation, intersubjective conflicts, expressed in the reports. The subtexts revealed in the reports do not stray from the law professionals narratives; they are normative discourses, endorsed by the legislation; they are narratives that do not take into account neither the family dynamics nor the situation of the child given the family and the legal conflicts. This research concludes that the axis of the narrative is not the child but the conception of the ideal bourgeois family. Many are the difficulties that pass through the relation between psychology and law and that interfere in the dialogue between them, as the child listening importance and the conception of child development founded in maturity and age criteria. It is noteworthy, therefore, the importance of understanding the child as an active, singular, being, endowed with the capacity of signify their experiences / Esta pesquisa apresenta uma análise de laudos psicológicos e sociais produzidos na vara de família de comarca do estado de São Paulo e se referem a ações de ex-casais que brigam judicialmente pela guarda dos filhos. Investiga as concepções de infância e de melhor interesse da criança manifestadas nos discursos dos técnicos judiciários e dos operadores do direito; os argumentos utilizados para determinar a capacidade do(s) pai(s) em relação ao exercício da guarda; as condições para a definição de família, de conflito familiar e de atribuição da guarda. Analisa os laudos de acordo com as recomendações do Conselho Federal de Psicologia e do Conselho Federal de Serviço Social. Foram selecionados dois processos judiciais, um caso de guarda modificada e outro de guarda compartilhada. Tem como referencial teórico a psicologia sócio-histórica de Vygotsky e suas categorias de análise, significados e sentidos, complementados por reflexões de Foucault sobre as práticas jurídicas. Os resultados apontam diferentes formas de compreensão da dinâmica familiar, das relações de parentalidade, de filiação, dos conflitos intersubjetivos, expressados nos laudos. Os subtextos revelados nos laudos não se distanciam das narrativas dos operadores do direito; são discursos normativos, referendados pelas legislações; são narrativas que não se ocupam da dinâmica familiar nemda situação da criança diante do conflito familiar e judicial. Conclui que o eixo da narrativa não é a criança, é sim a concepção de família ideal burguesa. Muitas são as dificuldades que atravessam a relação entre a psicologia e o direito e que interferem no diálogo entre elas, como a importância da escuta da criança e a concepção de desenvolvimento infantil fundada em critérios de maturação e idade. Destaca-se, assim, a importância de compreender a criança como ser ativo, singular, dotada da capacidade de significar as suas experiências.

ABSTRACTTitle: Children´s perspective at custody dispute? -A qualitative study of the experiences of Family Law Social workers of whether parents in custody dispute have a children´s perspective or not.Authors: Malin El Fhaily and Marlene HaglundThe purpose of the study was to investigate the experiences of social workers at Family Law about whether parents in custody dispute have a children´s perspective or not. The six respondents have been interviewed with semi-structured questions. They are employed as Family law social workers in one small community and one bigger community in the middle of Sweden. The interviews were conducted in April 2017. In the study, a qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the gathered material. The result showed that the respondents experienced that a lot of the parents in custody dispute tries to have a children´s perspective, but the parents have different opinions of what the best of their child is, and this is the reason a dispute andunpleasantness arises. The result also showed that the respondents experienced that some of the parents in custody dispute have too much focus on their own conflict and not being able to see the best interest of their child. The task for respondents was in this case to get the parents to cooperate and solve their dispute so they could move focus from their conflict to the child, and to get the parents to agree in questions concerning the best of their child. The Family law social workers in the study experienced that their tasks in custody dispute was to visible every child´s best interest for both the parents and the court.Keywords: Children´s perspective, Child´s best, Custody dispute, Family law, Family law social worker. / SAMMANFATTNINGTitel: Barnperspektiv vid vårdnadstvist? -En kvalitativ studie om familjerättssocionomers upplevelser av huruvida föräldrar i vårdnadstvist har barnperspektiv eller inte.Författare: Malin El Fhaily och Marlene HaglundStudien syftade till att undersöka om familjerättssocionomer upplever att föräldrar som är i vårdnadstvist har ett barnperspektiv eller inte. De sex deltagande respondenterna har intervjuats med semistrukturerade frågor. De har anställning som familjerättssocionomer i en mindre kommun och en större kommun i Mellansverige. Intervjuerna genomfördes i april 2017. I studien har kvalitativ innehållsanalys använts för att analysera det insamlade materialet. Resultatet visade att respondenterna upplever att många föräldrar i vårdnadstvist försöker att ha ett barnperspektiv men att föräldrarna har olika uppfattning om vad som är det bästa för barnet. Detta leder till att tvist och samarbetssvårigheter uppstår. Resultatet visade också att respondenterna upplevde att en del föräldrar som är i vårdnadstvist är så uppe i sin egen konflikt att de inte har förmåga till barnperspektiv och att se barnets bästa. Respondenternas uppgift blev då att försöka få föräldrarna att samarbeta och lösa sin tvist så att de kan flytta fokus från sin konflikt till barnet samt att få föräldrarna att enas om vad som är deras gemensamma barns bästa. Familjerättssocionomerna i studien upplevde att deras uppgift i vårdnadstvister blir att synliggöra barnperspektivet och varje barns bästa både inför föräldrarna och tingsrätten.Nyckelord: Barnperspektiv, Barns bästa, Familjerätt, Familjerättssocionom, Vårdnadstvist

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of how district courts reason in cases where visitation is granted between children and a parent accused of violence either towards the child or the other parent. Our research question revolves around how the district court reasons regarding information about violence and to what extent the children’s opinions is taken into account in the decisions. We have examined 11 cases from 2022, collected from district courts in Skåne and Blekinge, Sweden. Discourse analysis has been employed as a suitable method to study the construction of meaning through language in the court decisions. The results show that the district court tends to focus on the parents’ difficulties in cooperation or conflicts rather than on the reports of violence within the family. In several of the judgments, violence has been reformulated through language use, where violence is described, for example, as a conflict. This results in the minimization or invisibility of the violence. The significance and severity of the violence are also diminished as the district court questions the credibility of the reports of violence. When granting visitation between a child and a potentially violent parent, the risk of violence has been minimized, and instead, the child’s need for close and good contact with both parents has been given significant weight in these decisions. The children’s opinions have been briefly described and weighed very little in the district court’s assessment in all of the judgments. When the child’s opinions have been taken into account, the district court has reasoned about how children are influenced by the parents. Often, the oldest child’s opinions have represented the views of the siblings as well.

I denna uppsats har vi studerat 12 tingsrättsdomar från åren 2017 - 2019, där tingsrätten avgjort frågan om vårdnad, boende och umgänge där den ena föräldern dömts för våldsbrott (bl.a. misshandel och olaga hot) mot den andre föräldern och/eller deras barn. Vi har studerat hur tingsrätten dömer utifrån föräldrabalken 6 kap. 2 a §, men även undersökt i vilken utsträckning tingsrätten har dömt som socialtjänsten föreslagit i sin vårdnadsutredning och vilka de huvudsakliga skälen har varit när tingsrätten upplöst den gemensamma vårdnaden. Resultatet visar att tingsrätten har lutat sig mot bestämmelserna i FB 6 kap. 2 a § i samtliga domar utom i ett fall. Endast i undantagsfall har tingsrätten haft huvudfokus på det våld som inträffat. I de flesta av domarna har förekomsten av våld verkat vara av underordnad betydelse i jämförelse med barnets behov av en nära och god kontakt med båda sina föräldrar. I vår studie har vi även undersökt hur tingsrätten förhåller sig till barnets vilja, med beaktande av barnets ålder och mognad. Endast i en dom skrev tingsrätten att hänsyn måste tas till barnets åsikt med beaktande av barnets ålder och mognad. I det fallet var barnet 14 år. Då det kommer till tingsrättens resonemang kring om den gemensamma vårdnaden ska bestå eller upplösas, kunde vi se att föräldrarnas samarbetsförmåga har haft en större påverkan på utfallet än faktumet att en förälder är dömd för våldsbrott inom familjen. Vad gäller huruvida tingsrätten dömer som socialtjänsten föreslagit, kunde vi se att tingsrätten mestadels dömde som socialtjänsten föreslagit gällande vårdnaden och var barnet skulle ha sitt stadigvarande boende. Angående frågan om huruvida barnet skulle ha umgänge med föräldern som utövat våld, skiljde sig dock tingsrättens dom från socialtjänstens förslag. I en tredjedel av domarna var socialtjänstens förslag på beslut att inget umgänge skulle ske mellan barnet och föräldern som utövat våld. I samtliga av dessa vårdnadsmål dömde tingsrätten ändå till umgänge mellan barnet/barnen och den förälder som dömts för våldsbrott inom familjen. En av studiens slutsatser är att barn, trots att de i lagens mening har en viss makt och rättigheter, i praktiken i princip saknar makt att påverka sin egen livssituation i vårdnadstvister där frågan om vårdnad, boende och umgänge avgörs. Den makten verkar näst intill uteslutande tillhöra vuxna. / In this essay, we have studied twelve district court judgments from 2017 - 2019, where the district court decided on custody, residence and contact. In these cases, one parent has been convicted of abuse against the other parent and/or their children, which includes assault and unlawful threats. We have investigated the extent to which the district court has ruled in favour of the proposals of social services in its custody investigation and what the main reasons have been when the district court dissolved the legal joint custody. The results show that the district court has relied on the provisions of föräldrabalken chapter 6, 2 a §, in all judgments except one. Only in unique cases, the district court has had its main focus on the violence that has occurred. In most of the judgments, the incidence of violence seems to be of secondary importance compared to the child's need for a close and good contact with both of his/her parents. In our study, we have also investigated how the district court relates to the child's will, taking into account the child's age and maturity. Only in one judgment did the district court write that the child’s opinion must be taken into account, due to the age and maturity of the child. In that case, the child was 14 years old. When it comes to the district court's reasoning on whether legal joint custody should be upheld or dissolved, we could observe the parents' ability to cooperate had a greater impact on the outcome than the fact one parent has been convicted of domestic violence within the family. The district court mostly rules in accordance with what social services had proposed regarding custody and residence. However, regarding the question of whether the child should have contact with the parent who has been violent in the past, the district court has ruled against the proposals of social services. In a third of the judgements, social services advised that no contact should take place between the child and the parent who had been violent. In all of these custody cases, the district court ruled to allow visitation between the child and the parent convicted of domestic violence. One of the study's conclusions is that, although children in the sense of the law both have a certain power and rights, are nevertheless almost powerless to influence their own life situation in custody disputes where the issue of custody, housing and visitation is decided. That power, to influence the child's life, seems to belong to the adults.