In the best interest of the child? Ethical, legal and empirical assessments of decisions in social service to restrict social contact

The overall purpose of this project is to critically explore decision making in social care with a focus on the principle of the “best interest of the child” in matters related to restricting children’s and legal guardians’ right to socialization in compulsory care.

We will take an interdisciplinary approach in examining the ethical and legal foundations of the principle of the best interest of the child, exploring how it is understood and applied by social workers in this decision-making context.

On these grounds and in collaboration with social workers as research partners, we will develop recommendations and tools to support decision-making.The specific aims of this project are to:Identify and assess the legal and ethical principles and values that underpin the notion of the best interest of the child.Identify how social workers in Sweden understand and apply the notion of the best interest of the child in the context of making decisions about restricting children’s contact with their parents.Formulate the most reasonable ethical and legal requirements for making decisions guided by the best interest of the child in social care.Develop the first stages of an intervention that in may inform and support decisions in social care.By using methods of legal science, analytic philosophy, qualitative and quantitative empirical methodology and social interventions, the results will be relevant to scholars in different fields as well as to social workers and other stakeholders.