Nationell adoption - ett alternativ till långvariga familjehemsplaceringar?
(2010) JURM01 20101Department of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Utgångspunkten för detta examensarbete har varit de utsatta och behövande barn vars föräldrar av någon anledning inte kan eller vill ta hand om dem. Den primära frågan har varit vilka möjligheter dessa barn har till ett tryggt och fungerade liv och om de alternativ som finns idag är tillräckliga.
Nationell adoption infördes i Sverige i början på 1900-talet och användes relativt frekvent under de första 40 åren för att ge barn nya föräldrar, men har sedan dess i princip avstannat helt. Idag tillämpas istället familjehemsplaceringar för att trygga behövande barns tillvaro. En placering innebär emellertid inte att barnet får några permanenta juridiska band till en ny familj, tvärtom skall man under placeringen eftersträva en återförening... (More) - Utgångspunkten för detta examensarbete har varit de utsatta och behövande barn vars föräldrar av någon anledning inte kan eller vill ta hand om dem. Den primära frågan har varit vilka möjligheter dessa barn har till ett tryggt och fungerade liv och om de alternativ som finns idag är tillräckliga.
Nationell adoption infördes i Sverige i början på 1900-talet och användes relativt frekvent under de första 40 åren för att ge barn nya föräldrar, men har sedan dess i princip avstannat helt. Idag tillämpas istället familjehemsplaceringar för att trygga behövande barns tillvaro. En placering innebär emellertid inte att barnet får några permanenta juridiska band till en ny familj, tvärtom skall man under placeringen eftersträva en återförening med barnets biologiska föräldrar. Många barn blir dock kvar i familjehemmen, då en återförening med de biologiska föräldrarna inte alltid är möjlig. Frågan är om dessa barns tillvaro är juridiskt trygg och säker.
Reglerna för adoption kvarstår i princip oförändrade sedan 1970-talet och de innebär inte några hinder för en ökad tillämpning av nationell adoption. Istället är det de sociala myndigheternas attityd och rutiner som motverkar adoptioner. Detta trots att forskning visar att adoption oftast är ett bättre alternativ för barn än att vara fortsatt familjehemsplacerade eller att återvända till sina biologiska familjer. Dock har en debatt nu väckts på området, då Stockholms stad som första kommun i landet förordar nationell adoption framför långvariga placeringar i familjehem. Med anledning av detta har jag intervjuat socialborgarrådet i Stockholm. Intervjuer har även gjorts med socialarbetare på tre olika socialförvaltningar samt med ett antal sakkunniga på området. Det mest slående resultatet av intervjuerna med socialarbetarna är att inställningen till nationell adoption och förfarandesättet kring adoptioner i hög utsträckning skiljer sig från kommun till kommun. Under intervjuerna med de sakkunniga poängterades bland annat vikten av att attityden till nationell adoption förbättras, att vi måste börja dra lärdom av våra erfarenheter av såväl nationell som internationell adoption samt att alla inblandade parter vid en adoption måste behandlas korrekt och med respekt samt få vetskap och information om varandra.
Med resultatet av teori och empiri i bagaget framstår det som en mycket bra idé att en debatt tas upp på detta bortglömda område. Nationell adoption bör införas som ett alternativ till långvariga familjehemsplaceringar, då dessa inte alltid medför den trygghet som barn behöver. En centralisering av adoptionsverksamheten vore att föredra, då förfarandesättet uppenbarligen ser olika ut i olika kommuner. En centralisering skulle öka rättssäkerheten och stärka barns rättigheter vid nationella adoptioner, vilket borde ha högsta prioritet. Med en ökad vetskap och erfarenhet av nationell adoption skulle alla inblandade kunna bemötas på ett bättre sätt och nationell adoption skulle kunna tillämpas i den utsträckning som är nödvändig för att kunna tillgodose varje barns bästa. (Less) - Abstract
- The primary basis of this dissertation is the vulnerable children of parents unable or unwilling to care for them. The crucial question has been what possibilities these children have to live safe and functioning lives and whether the options provided today are sufficient.
National adoption was made possible in Sweden in the early 20th century and was frequently used during the first 40 years to provide children with new parents. Since then the use of national adoption has more or less ceased. Today foster care is the primary way to secure the lives of children in need. Foster care, however, does not result in any legal bonds between the child and the new family. On the contrary, the goal during foster care is that the child is to be... (More) - The primary basis of this dissertation is the vulnerable children of parents unable or unwilling to care for them. The crucial question has been what possibilities these children have to live safe and functioning lives and whether the options provided today are sufficient.
National adoption was made possible in Sweden in the early 20th century and was frequently used during the first 40 years to provide children with new parents. Since then the use of national adoption has more or less ceased. Today foster care is the primary way to secure the lives of children in need. Foster care, however, does not result in any legal bonds between the child and the new family. On the contrary, the goal during foster care is that the child is to be reunited with its biological parents. Several children, however, stay in foster care for years, since a reunion is not always possible. The question is whether the lives of these children are legally safe and sound.
The legal rules for adoption remain unaltered since the 1970s and imply no impediments for a wider use of national adoption. The reason national adoption is so seldom used today is rather due to the attitude and routines of the social authorities, in spite of the fact that research shows that adoption more often that not is better for children than remaining in foster care or returning to their biological family. Lately, however, a debate has been sparked, as the City of Stockholm now state that they endorse national adoption prior to long-lasting foster care. Because of this, I have interviewed the vice mayor of social welfare in Stockholm. I have also interviewed social workers in three different Swedish cities and a few professionals on adoption. The most striking result of the interviews with the social workers was that the attitude towards national adoption and the mode of procedure when it comes to adoptions so radically diverge between the different cities. During the interviews with the professionals a few important aspects was emphasised. First and foremost how important it is that the attitudes towards national adoption improve, secondly that we need to learn from our experiences with both international and national adoption and last but not least the importance of treating all concerned parties in an adoption fair and with respect and acknowledging that they all need to receive notice and information of each other.
The result of both hypothesis and empirics indicates clearly the necessity of a debate on this almost forgotten field. National adoption ought to be an alternative to long-lasting foster care, since foster care cannot always provide children with the security they need. A centralisation of the adoption efficacy should be considered, since the mode of procedure evidently diverges from one city to another. A centralisation would increase legal security and enhance children’s rights in adoptions, something that should have top priority. With improved knowledge and experience of national adoption all parties could be treated in a better way and national adoption could be used whenever necessary to meet a child’s best interest. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1628381
- author
- Nilsson, Siri LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- JURM01 20101
- year
- 2010
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- Familjerätt, Socialrätt
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 1628381
- date added to LUP
- 2010-07-19 13:44:06
- date last changed
- 2010-07-19 13:44:06
@misc{1628381,
abstract = {{The primary basis of this dissertation is the vulnerable children of parents unable or unwilling to care for them. The crucial question has been what possibilities these children have to live safe and functioning lives and whether the options provided today are sufficient.
National adoption was made possible in Sweden in the early 20th century and was frequently used during the first 40 years to provide children with new parents. Since then the use of national adoption has more or less ceased. Today foster care is the primary way to secure the lives of children in need. Foster care, however, does not result in any legal bonds between the child and the new family. On the contrary, the goal during foster care is that the child is to be reunited with its biological parents. Several children, however, stay in foster care for years, since a reunion is not always possible. The question is whether the lives of these children are legally safe and sound.
The legal rules for adoption remain unaltered since the 1970s and imply no impediments for a wider use of national adoption. The reason national adoption is so seldom used today is rather due to the attitude and routines of the social authorities, in spite of the fact that research shows that adoption more often that not is better for children than remaining in foster care or returning to their biological family. Lately, however, a debate has been sparked, as the City of Stockholm now state that they endorse national adoption prior to long-lasting foster care. Because of this, I have interviewed the vice mayor of social welfare in Stockholm. I have also interviewed social workers in three different Swedish cities and a few professionals on adoption. The most striking result of the interviews with the social workers was that the attitude towards national adoption and the mode of procedure when it comes to adoptions so radically diverge between the different cities. During the interviews with the professionals a few important aspects was emphasised. First and foremost how important it is that the attitudes towards national adoption improve, secondly that we need to learn from our experiences with both international and national adoption and last but not least the importance of treating all concerned parties in an adoption fair and with respect and acknowledging that they all need to receive notice and information of each other.
The result of both hypothesis and empirics indicates clearly the necessity of a debate on this almost forgotten field. National adoption ought to be an alternative to long-lasting foster care, since foster care cannot always provide children with the security they need. A centralisation of the adoption efficacy should be considered, since the mode of procedure evidently diverges from one city to another. A centralisation would increase legal security and enhance children’s rights in adoptions, something that should have top priority. With improved knowledge and experience of national adoption all parties could be treated in a better way and national adoption could be used whenever necessary to meet a child’s best interest.}},
author = {{Nilsson, Siri}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Nationell adoption - ett alternativ till långvariga familjehemsplaceringar?}},
year = {{2010}},
}