Defending the Principle of the Best Interest of the Child as the Moral Standard for Restricting Social Contact Between Parents and Children in out-of-home Care
(2025) In Ethics and Social Welfare- Abstract
Whether or not to allow socialisation between parents and children in out-of-home care presents a difficult ethical challenge for those social work professionals who need to make an assessment about what to do. In this as well as in other contexts, it is widely assumed that the principle of the best interest of the child (BIC) is both the legal and moral standard for decision-making for children. Yet, from a moral philosophical perspective it is not entirely clear how this principle should be understood, and in the applied ethics literature it has been suggested that BIC should be rejected. In this paper, we defend BIC as the moral standard for ethical decision-making concerning children. We offer an interpretation of BIC that is both... (More)
Whether or not to allow socialisation between parents and children in out-of-home care presents a difficult ethical challenge for those social work professionals who need to make an assessment about what to do. In this as well as in other contexts, it is widely assumed that the principle of the best interest of the child (BIC) is both the legal and moral standard for decision-making for children. Yet, from a moral philosophical perspective it is not entirely clear how this principle should be understood, and in the applied ethics literature it has been suggested that BIC should be rejected. In this paper, we defend BIC as the moral standard for ethical decision-making concerning children. We offer an interpretation of BIC that is both plausible from a moral philosophical point of view and that may offer practical guidance for those assessing whether it is morally defensible to restrict social contact between parents and children placed in out-of-home care. Based on our interpretation of BIC, we develop a tentative step-by-step procedure that may help guide social workers and relevant decision-makers when assessing moral reasons for whether to allow or restrict the right to socialisation between parents and children in out-of-home-care.
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- author
- Bülow, William ; Kihlbom, Ulrik ; Bergström, Martin LU ; Bywall, Karin Schölin and Helgesson, Gert
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- epub
- subject
- keywords
- Best interest, children’s rights, foster care, out-of-home care, professional ethics
- in
- Ethics and Social Welfare
- publisher
- Routledge
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105020579651
- ISSN
- 1749-6535
- DOI
- 10.1080/17496535.2025.2573456
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
- id
- d00f51fc-4027-479f-b91f-ae92d13aa744
- date added to LUP
- 2026-01-14 14:58:04
- date last changed
- 2026-01-14 14:59:05
@article{d00f51fc-4027-479f-b91f-ae92d13aa744,
abstract = {{<p>Whether or not to allow socialisation between parents and children in out-of-home care presents a difficult ethical challenge for those social work professionals who need to make an assessment about what to do. In this as well as in other contexts, it is widely assumed that the principle of the best interest of the child (BIC) is both the legal and moral standard for decision-making for children. Yet, from a moral philosophical perspective it is not entirely clear how this principle should be understood, and in the applied ethics literature it has been suggested that BIC should be rejected. In this paper, we defend BIC as the moral standard for ethical decision-making concerning children. We offer an interpretation of BIC that is both plausible from a moral philosophical point of view and that may offer practical guidance for those assessing whether it is morally defensible to restrict social contact between parents and children placed in out-of-home care. Based on our interpretation of BIC, we develop a tentative step-by-step procedure that may help guide social workers and relevant decision-makers when assessing moral reasons for whether to allow or restrict the right to socialisation between parents and children in out-of-home-care.</p>}},
author = {{Bülow, William and Kihlbom, Ulrik and Bergström, Martin and Bywall, Karin Schölin and Helgesson, Gert}},
issn = {{1749-6535}},
keywords = {{Best interest; children’s rights; foster care; out-of-home care; professional ethics}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Routledge}},
series = {{Ethics and Social Welfare}},
title = {{Defending the Principle of the Best Interest of the Child as the Moral Standard for Restricting Social Contact Between Parents and Children in out-of-home Care}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17496535.2025.2573456}},
doi = {{10.1080/17496535.2025.2573456}},
year = {{2025}},
}