Participation of Children and Parents in the Swiss Child Protection System in the Past and Present: An Interdisciplinary Perspective
Type
01 - Zeitschriftenartikel, Journalartikel oder Magazin
Zusammenfassung
As in other European countries, the Swiss child protection system has gone through
substantial changes in the course of the 20th century up to today. Increasingly, the needs as well as
the participation of children and parents a ected by child protection interventions have become a
central concern. In Switzerland, critical debates around care-related detention of children and adults
until 1981 have led to the launch of the National Research Program ‘Welfare and Coercion—Past,
Present and Future’ (NRP 76), with the aim of understanding past and current welfare practices.
This paper is based on our research project, which is part of this national program. We first discuss
three overarching concepts—integrity, autonomy and participation—at the heart of a theoretical
framework in order to understand the position of parents and children in child protection proceedings.
Secondly, we critically analyze the historical and legal development of the child protection system
in Switzerland and its e ects on children and parents from 1912 until today. Thirdly, we give an
insight into the current Swiss child protection system, with an investigation of hearings of parents
and children conducted by the Child and Adult Protection Authorities (CAPA) based on participant
observations. In particular, we show the importance of information exchanges and of signs of mutual
recognition. Finally, in light of our findings, we discuss the interplay between socio-historical and
legal developments in child protection and their consequences for the integrity, autonomy and
participation of the people involved.
DOI der Originalausgabe
https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci9080148Übergeordnetes Werk
Social Sciences
Jahrgang
9
Ausgabe
8
Themenheft
Critical Debates and Developments in Child Protection