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‘The Best Interests of the Child’ or the ‘Best Interests of the Family’? How the Child Protection Services in Sweden Respond to Domestic Violence

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Response Based Approaches to the Study of Interpersonal Violence
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Abstract

Children witnessing violence at home is regarded in many countries as one of society’s most important social and health problems (e.g. Feerick and Silverman, 2006). In Sweden, the special needs of children subjected to such violence have been in focus since the end of the 1990s (Eriksson, 2005; Øverlien and Hydén, 2009), and the problem has been an urgent matter for the Child Protection Services (CPS). Child welfare organizations have been involved in identifying and responding to such violence and its consequences (The National Board of Health and Welfare 2011; Grip, 2012). In Sweden, as in other countries, the work of CPS is based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in terms of the child’s perspective, protection, support and rights (Santos Pais and Bissell, 2006).

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© 2016 Ann-Charlotte Münger

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Münger, AC. (2016). ‘The Best Interests of the Child’ or the ‘Best Interests of the Family’? How the Child Protection Services in Sweden Respond to Domestic Violence. In: Hydén, M., Gadd, D., Wade, A. (eds) Response Based Approaches to the Study of Interpersonal Violence. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137409546_7

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