The enforcement of family law is a significant actor in the welfare state's regulation of the domestic sphere. This article analyses how the child and different conceptions about children's welfare become constructed through the legal proceedings and decisions when divorced or separated parents have disputes over contact with their children: who is allowed to speak during the proceedings and which arguments about what is best for the child are considered as valid? The empirical basis for the analysis consists of 75 complicated disputes over child contact which were handled by the judicial authority in Denmark. The analysis deals with the key actors in the field and identifies several constructions about the child and ‘the child's best interest’. The dominant rationale was elaborated on the basis of the judicial discourse and its professionals: this discourse is based on a limited-content definition of ‘what is best for the child’ and has the purpose of maintaining the idea of a normalized parenthood. The consequences of this construction for the involved children are discussed.
Alanen, L. (1988) ‘Rethinking Childhood’ , Acta Sociologica31: 53–67 .
2.
Alston, P. (1994) ‘The Best Interest Principle: Towards a Reconciliation of Culture and Human Rights’ , International Journal of Law and the Family8: 1–25 .
3.
Andersen, I. L. (2004) ‘Den juridiske kontekst og baggrund’, in M. Heide Ottosen (ed.) Samvær til barnets bedste. Copenhagen: Socialforskningsinstituttet.
4.
Aries, P. (1962) Centuries of Childhood. London: Jonathan Cape .
5.
Bourdieu, P. (1997) Af praktiske grunde. Om teorien om menneskelig handling. Copenhagen: Hans Reitzels forlag.
6.
Burman, E. (1994) Deconstructing Developmental Psychology. London: Routledge .
7.
Burman, E. (1996) ‘Local, Global or Globalised? Child Development and International Child Rights Legislation’ , Childhood3: 45–66 .
8.
Christensen, L. I. and Henriksen, C. S. (1999) Evaluering af konfliktmægling i Københavns Statsamt. Copenhagen: CASA.
9.
Civilretsdirektoratet (1999a) Med barnet i centrum, pjece om forældremyndighed og samvær. Copenhagen: Civilretsdirektoratet.
10.
Civilretsdirektoratet (1999b) Vejledning om behandling af samværssager. Copenhagen: Civilretsdirektoratet.
11.
Cockburn, T. (1998) ‘Children and Citizenship in Britain’ , Childhood5: 99–117 .
12.
Cosaro, W. A. (1997) The Sociology of Childhood. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press .
13.
Donzelot, J. (1979) The Policing of Families. London: Hutchinson .
14.
Egelund, T. (1997) Beskyttelse af barndommen. Socialforvaltningernes risikovurdering og indgreb. Copenhagen: Hans Reitzels forlag.
15.
Egelund, T. and Thomsen, S. (2002) Tærskler for anbringelser. En vignetundersøgelse om socialforvaltningernes vurderinger i børnesager. Copenhagen: Socialforskningsinstituttet.
16.
Ekeland, T.-J. and Myklebust, V. (1997) Foreldremekling, brukarperspektivet, forskningsrapport nr. 23, Volda.
17.
Council of Europe (2001a) Draft Convention on Contact Concerning Children. Explanatory Report. European Committee on Legal Cooperation. Strasbourg .
18.
Council of Europe (2001b) The Legal Status of Children. Draft Report on Principles Concerning the Establishment and Legal Consequences of Parentage. Strasbourg .
19.
Foucault, M. (1978) Viljen til Viden. Copenhagen: Rhodos. (La volonté de savoir.Edition Gallimard, 1976).
20.
Frnes, I. (1995) Among Peers. Oslo: Oslo University Press.
21.
Haugli, T. (2000) Samværsrett i barnevernssaker. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
22.
Heide Ottosen, M. (1997) Børn i sammenbragte familier. Et studie af forældreskab som social konstruktion. Copenhagen, Socialforskningsinstituttet.
23.
Heide Ottosen, M. (1999) Børnesagkyndig rådgivning. Evaluering af et forsøg i to statsamter. Copenhagen: Socialforskningsinstituttet.
24.
Heide Ottosen, M. (2000) Samboskab, ægteskab og forældrebrud. En analyse af børns familieforhold gennem de første leveår. Copenhagen: Socialforskningsinstituttet.
25.
Heide Ottosen, M. (2004) Samvær og børns trivsel. Copenhagen: Socialforskningsinstituttet.
26.
James, A. and James, A. (1999) ‘Pump Up the Volume: Listening to Children in Separation and Divorce’ , Childhood6: 189–206 .
27.
James, A. , Jenks, C. and Prout, A. (1998) Theorising Childhood. Cambridge: Polity Press .
28.
James, A. and Prout, A. (1990/1997) ‘A New Paradigm for Sociology of Childhood? Provenance, Promise and Problems’, in A. James and A. Prout (eds) Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary Issues in the Sociological Study of Childhood. London: Falmer Press .
29.
Jenks, C. (1996) Childhood. London: Routledge .
30.
Jensen, A. M. (1999) ‘Partners and Parents in Europe. A Gender Divide’ , Comparative Social Research18: 1–29 .
31.
Justitsministeriet (1994) Betænkning nr. 1279/1994 om fælles forældremyndighed, samværsvanskeligheder og børnesagkyndig rådgivning. Copenhagen: Justitsministeriet.
32.
Justitsministeriet (1997) Betænkning nr. 1350/1997 om børns retsstilling. Copenhagen: Justitsministeriet.
33.
Kaltenborn, K. F. (2001) ‘Individualisation. Family Transition and Children's Agency’ , Childhood8: 463–498 .
34.
Kampmann, J. (2003) ‘Barndomssociologi. Fra marginaliseret provokatør til mainstream leverandør’ , Dansk Sociologi14: 79–93 .
35.
King, M. (1997) A Better World for Children. Explorations in Morality and Authority. London and New York: Routledge .
36.
King, M. and Piper, C. (1995) How Law Think About Children. Aldershot: Arena .
37.
Koch, K. (2000) Når mor og far mødes i retten. Barnefordeling og samvær.rapport 13/00. Oslo: Nova.
38.
Kronborg, A. (2000) ‘Forvaltning af familieretligt samvær’ , Juristen9: 325–334 .
39.
Luhmann, N. (1995) ‘Retssystemets enhed’, in J. C. Jacobsen (ed.) Autopoiesis II. Udvalgte tekster af Niklas Luhmann. Copenhagen: Politisk Revy.
40.
Luhmann, N. (2000) Sociale systemer. Copenhagen: Hans Reitzels forlag.
41.
Mason, M. A. , Fine, M. and Carnochan, S. (2001) ‘Family Law in the New Millennium. For Whose Families?’ , Journal of Family Issues22: 859–881 .
42.
Mayall, B. (ed.) (1994) Children's Childhoods: Observed and Experienced. London: Falmer Press .
43.
Moxnes, K. (2003) ‘Children Coping with Parental Divorce: What Helps, What Hurts?’, in A. M. Jensen and L. McKee (eds) Children and the Changing Family. Between Transformation and Negotiation. London and New York: Routledge Falmer
44.
Murray, C. and Hallet, C. (2000) ‘Young People's Participation in Decisions Affecting their Welfare’ , Childhood7: 11–25 .
45.
Neale, B. (2002) ‘Dialogues with Children: Children, Divorce and Citizenship’ , Childhood9: 455–474 .
46.
Neale, B. and Smart, C (1997) ‘Experiments with Parenthood?’Sociology31: 202–219 .
47.
Qvortrup, J. (1993) ‘Nine Theses about “Childhood as a Social Phenomenon”’, in J. Qvortrup (ed.) Childhood as a Social Phenomenon: Lessons from an International Project. Eurosocial report 47. Vienna: European Center .
48.
Rejmer, A. (2003) Vårdnadstvister. Lund Studies in Sociology of Law. Lund: Sociologiska Institutionen .
49.
Robinson, M. et al. (2003) ‘Children's Experience of their Parents’ Divorce’, in A. M. Jensen and L. McKee (eds) Children and the Changing Family. Between Transformation and Negotiation. London and New York: Routledge Falmer .
50.
Rodger, J. (1996) Family Life and Social Control. Houndmills: Macmillan .
51.
Schiratzki, J. (1997) Vårdnad och vårdnadstvister. Nordsteds Juridik: Stockholm .
52.
Sclater, S. D. and Piper, C. (2001) ‘Social Exclusion and the Welfare of the Child’ , Journal of Law and Society28: 409–429 .
53.
Sheehan, R. (2003) ‘Marginalisation of Children by the Legal Process’ , Australian Social Work56: 28–39 .
54.
Smart, C. (2004) ‘Equal Shares: Rights for Fathers or Recognition for Children?’Critical Social Policy24: 484–503 .
55.
Teubner, G. (1989) ‘How the Law Thinks: Toward a Constructivist Epistemology of Law’ , Law and Society Review23: 727–756 .
56.
Wade A. and Smart, C. (2003) ‘As Fair As It Can Be? Childhood After Divorce’, in A. M. Jensen and L. McKee (eds) Children and the Changing Family. Between Transformation and Negotiation. London and New York: Routledge Falmer .
