Abstract
The title to this chapter suggests a straightforward development of the relationship between the child and society: a progression from a time when that relationship was a purely private matter, mainly between the child and its parents, to the present, when the child’s primary relationships are significantly controlled by the state. This thesis is reinforced by changes in the laws of many western European countries which have occurred over the past twenty or so years. Legal terms like puissance paternelle, elterliche Gewalt or parental rights have been replaced by autorité parentale, elterliche Sorge or parental responsibility (Frank, 1990; Rubellin-Devichi, 1994). The welfare of the child is everywhere proclaimed as an overriding legal principle. This seems to indicate an abandonment of a regime where parents had (almost) unrestricted power over their children for one in which parents are subjected to rigorous supervision by a state anxious to enhance children’s welfare at all times. English courts have pushed this new rhetoric so far that some judges seem reluctant to refer to parents’ rights altogether. Instead, we have the assertion of an all-embracing duty on the legal system to promote the best interests of the children.
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Eekelaar, J. (1997). From “Privacy” to the Leviathan State The case of the child. In: Commaille, J., de Singly, F. (eds) The European Family. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8857-7_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8857-7_15
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