The best interests of the child: More questions about this construct?

Authors

  • Frank Ainsworth James Cook University, Townsville, Australia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11157/anzswj-vol33iss2id872

Keywords:

child protection, best interests of the child,

Abstract

In this article I examine the best interests of the child construct and raise questions about the utility of the construct. I also draw attention to Winnicott’s good enough parenting proposal as an alternative conceptualisation that addresses the issue of parental child-rearing capacity.

The best interests construct that emanates from the US has been the dominant international child-protection paradigm for at least two decades. Associated with this construct is a focus on individual parental pathology and child-rearing deficits. Yet, family poverty is the dominant factor, rather than parental pathology or incapacity, that precipitates many child abuse and neglect cases. The question is, has the best interests construct, one that ignores poverty and social disadvantage, outlived its usefulness? This construct has certainly affected Aboriginal families and led, as evidence shows, to the over-removal of children from these families. A range of alternative interventions and a social model of child protection is then canvassed.

References

Ainsworth, F., & Berger, J. (2014). Family inclusive child protection practice: The history of the Family Inclusion Network and beyond. Children Australia, 39(2), 60–64.

Ainsworth, F., & Hansen, P. (2018). Coaching parents about children’s needs and navigating, the child protection and other systems. Children Australia, 43(3), 181–185.

Ainsworth, F. (2020). The social and economic origins of child abuse and neglect. Children Australia, 45(4), 202–206.

Anne E. Casey Foundation. (2020). First-of-a-kind partnership that aims to redesign child welfare into child and family well-being systems. Available at https:// www.aecf.org/blog/first-of-its-kind-partnership-aims-to- redesign-child-welfare-into-child-and-family-wellbeing- systems Accessed 10 August.

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2016). Socio-economic indexes for areas (SEIFA). Available at www//abs.gov. aubs/censushomensf/home/seifa. Accessed 10 August. ABS.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2013). Child protection Australia 2011-12. Table A9. AIHW.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2018). Children’s headline indicators. No. 15, 16 and 19. Available at https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/children-youth/ childrens-headline-indicators/contents/overview Accessed 10 August. AIHW.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2020). Child protection Australia 2018-19. Child welfare series no. 72. Cat. no. CWS 74. AIHW.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2021). Child protection Australia 2019-20. Trends over time for children in out-of-home care (p. vi). Child welfare series no. 74. Cat. no. CWS 78. AIHW.

Australian Parliamentary Library. (2015). Domestic violence in Australia: A quick guide to the issues. Department of Parliamentary Services.

Bennett K., Booth A., Gair S., Kibet R. & Ros Thorpe (2020). Poverty is the problem – not parents: So tell me child protection workers, how can you help? Children Australia, 45 (4), 207-214.

Bettelheim, B. (1987). A good enough parent. Random House.

Broadhurst, K., & Mason, C. (2020). Child removal as the gateway to further adversity: Birth mothers’ account of immediate and enduring consequence of child removal. Qualitative Social Work, 19(1), 15–37.

Brown, D., & de Cao, E. (2017). The impact of unemployment on child maltreatment in the US. Department of Economics, Discussion Paper Series No 837. University of Oxford.

Burns, K., Poso, T., & Skivenes, M. (Eds.). (2017). Child welfare removals by the state. Oxford University Press.

Bywaters, P., Bunting, L., Davidson, G., Hanratty, J., Mason, W., McCartan, C., & Steils, N. (2016). The relationship between poverty, child abuse and neglect: An evidence review. Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Bywaters, P., Scourfield, J., Jones, C., Sparks, T., Elliot, M., Hooper, J., McCartan, C., Shapira, M., Bunting L., & Daniel, B. (2018). Child welfare inequalities in the four nations of the UK. Journal of Social Work, 18(3), 1–23.

Cancian, M., Yang, M-Y, & Slack, K. S. (2013). The effect of additional child support income on the risk of child maltreatment. Social Services Review, 87(3), 417–437.

Cocks, J. (2018, April). If a community values its children, it must cherish their parents [Paper presentation]. CFCA Webinar, Newcastle: NSW.

Commonwealth of Australia. (2010). National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children. Author.

Cotterill, A. M. (1988). The geographic distribution of child abuse in an inner-city borough. Child Abuse and Neglect, 12(4), 461–467.

Daley, D., Bachmann, M., Bachmann, B. A., Pedigo, C., Minh-Thuy, B., & Cofffman, J. (2016). Risk terrain modelling predicts child maltreatment. Child Abuse and Neglect, 62, 29–38.

Dallek, R. (2018). Franklin D. Roosevelt. A political life. Penguin.

Doidge, J. C., Higgins, D. J., Delfabbro, P., Edwards, B., Vassallo, S., Toumbourou, J. W. & Segal, L. (2017). Economic predictors of child maltreatment in an Australian population-based birth cohort. Child and Youth Services Review, 72, 14–25.

Dreyfus, S. N. (2020). Building a true and equitable child and family well-being system. Children’s Bureau Express, 21(6), 1–2.

Eckenrode, J., Smith, E. G., McCarthy, M. E., & Dineen, M. (2014). Income inequality and child maltreatment in the United States. Paediatrics, 133; 454-461.

Everson N. (2016a). Special Broadcasting Service. Cultural atlas. Available at https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/uk Accessed 10 August.

Everson N. (2016b). Special Broadcasting Service. Cultural atlas. Available at https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/us Accessed 10 August.

Family Functional Therapy - Child Welfare (FFT-CW)®. Family Functional Therapy - Child Welfare. Available at https://fftllc.com/fft-childwelfare Accessed 10 August.

Featherstone, B., Gupta, A., Morris, K., & White, S. (2018). Protecting children. A social model. Policy Press.

Forbes N, (2019). Special Broadcasting Service. Cultural atlas. Available at https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/new- zealand Accessed 10 August.

Ghate, D., & Hazel, N. (2002). Parenting in poor environments. Stress, support, and coping. Jessica Kingsley.

Goldstein, L., Freud, A., & Solnit, A. J. (1973). Beyond the best interests of the child. Free Press.

Goldstein, L., Freud, A., Burlingham, D., & Solnit, A. J. (1979). Before the best interest of the child. Free Press.

Goldstein, J., Freud, A., Solnit A. J., & Goldstein, S. (1986). In the best interest of the child. Free Press.

Goldstein, J., Solnit, A. J., Goldstein, S. (with Freud, A.). (1996). The best interest of the child. The least detrimental alternative. Free Press.

Government of Hong Kong (2013). Epidemiology of child abuse and its geographic distribution in Hong Kong: An important social indicator of different districts and communities, Available at Epidemiology of Child Abuse and Its Geographic Distribution in Hong Kong: (pico.gov. hk) Accessed 10 August.

Grandmothers Against Removal NSW. (2019). Media release. Available at https://www.facs.nsw.gov.au/sear ch?q=grandmothers+against+removal+nsw Accessed 10 August.

Guggenheim, M. (2005). What’s wrong with children’s rights. Harvard University Press.

Hansen, P., & Ainsworth, F. (2009). The “best interests of the child” thesis: Some thoughts from Australia. International Journal of Social Welfare, 18, 431–439.

Hansen, P., & Ainsworth, F. (2011). In ‘the best interests of the child’: Critical reflections on an overused construct. Children Australia, 36(1), 12–17. https://doi.org/10.1375/ jcas.36.1.12

Hansen, P., & Ainsworth, F. (2020). Examining child protection practice in New South Wales: Non-accidental injury and the principle of strict liability. Children Australia, 45(1), 8–13.

Humphreys C., Healy L., Kirkwood D. & Nicholson D. (2018). Children living with domestic violence: A differential response through multi-agency collaboration. Australian Social Work, 71 (2), 162-174.

Institute for Research on Poverty. (2017). Fast Focus. Research/Policy brief no. 27. Financial causes and consequences of child maltreatment. University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation. (2016). The relationship between poverty, child abuse and neglect: An evidence review.

Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Strauss and Giroux.

Krumer-Nevo, M. (2020). Radical hope. Poverty-aware practice for social work. Policy Press.

Leigh, J. (2017). Blame, culture and child protection. Palgrave Macmillan.

Maluccio, A. N., & Ainsworth, F. (2009). Drug use by parents: A challenge for family reunification practice. In M. Courtney & J. Thoburn (Eds.), Children in state care. The Library of Essays in Child Welfare and Development series. Routledge.

Multi-systemic Therapy - Child Abuse and Neglect (MST- CAN)®. Multi-systemic therapy. Available at www/ozchild. org.au/mst-can/ Accessed 10 August.

National Council on Drug Abuse. (2018). Drug talk. NCDA. Nuffield Foundation. (2021). Protecting young children at risk of abuse and neglect. Nuffield Foundation.

Saar-Heiman, Y., & Gupta, A. (2019). The poverty-aware paradigm for child protection: A critical framework for policy and practice. British Journal of Social Work, 50(4), 1167–1184.

Sammut, J. (2014, January 30). Abuse a bigger danger in non-traditional families. The Australian, p. 10.

Sammut, J. (2015). The madness of Australian child protection. Why adoption will rescue Australia’s underclass of children. Children Australia, 41(2), 162–163.

Sammut, J. (2017). Resetting the pendulum: Balanced, effective, accountable child protection systems and adoption reform in Australia. Children Australia, 43(3), 217–219.

Sedlak, A. J., Mettenburg, J., Basena, M., Petta, I., McPherson, K., Greene A., & Li S. (2010). Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-4): Report to Congress. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.

Spinak, J. (2007). When did lawyers for children stop reading Goldstein, Freud and Solnit? Lessons from the twentieth century on best interests and the role of the child advocate. Family Law Quarterly, 42(2), 393–411.

Weatherburn, D., & Lind, B. (2001). Delinquency-prone communities. Cambridge University Press.

Williams, C., & Offutt, K. (2020). Black children are overrepresented in the foster care system: What should we do about it? Children’s Bureau Express, 21(6), 1–2.

Winnicott, D. W. (1960). The theory of the parent-infant relationship. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 41, 585–595.

Winnicott, D. W. (1973). The child, the family, and the outside world. Penguin.

Working with Indigenous Australians. (2021). Available at www.workingwithindigenous australians.info/content/ History-3colonisation/html Accessed 10 August.

Statutes:

NSW Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act, 1998.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 2010. PL 111- 148.

Downloads

Published

2021-09-02

How to Cite

Ainsworth, F. (2021). The best interests of the child: More questions about this construct?. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 33(2), 104–113. https://doi.org/10.11157/anzswj-vol33iss2id872

Issue

Section

Commentary 2