“Barnfridsbrott collapses?!" - A socio-legal study of the Swedish law on children who witness domestic violence
(2025) SOLM02 20251Department of Sociology of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Domestic violence is an issue that affects one out of ten children in society. Witnessing domestic violence has serious negative consequences, and it goes against the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Barnfridsbrott is a newly implemented law in Sweden introduced as a result of incorporating the CRC into national law. The law was created due to both legal limitations and the need for additional protection for exposed children. This study aims to examine how Barnfridsbrott is implemented in practice and whether it achieves its intended goal of protecting children who have witnessed domestic violence. To explore this, a qualitative approach was applied through semi-structured interviews with ten professionals, mainly from... (More)
- Domestic violence is an issue that affects one out of ten children in society. Witnessing domestic violence has serious negative consequences, and it goes against the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Barnfridsbrott is a newly implemented law in Sweden introduced as a result of incorporating the CRC into national law. The law was created due to both legal limitations and the need for additional protection for exposed children. This study aims to examine how Barnfridsbrott is implemented in practice and whether it achieves its intended goal of protecting children who have witnessed domestic violence. To explore this, a qualitative approach was applied through semi-structured interviews with ten professionals, mainly from Barnahus, including a lawyer, a psychologist, police officers and social workers. Additionally, a child rights lawyer from Children's Rights in Society (BRIS) and a municipal Ombudsman for children were interviewed to gain an overarching perspective. Lastly, a licensed psychotherapist from the National Board of Institutional Care was interviewed. The theoretical framework is based on three theories: law in books and law in action, street-level bureaucracy and the theory of norms. Together these provided a multidimensional perspective on how Barnfridsbrott operates and how professionals apply it. Furthermore, the findings highlight both legal and social aspects, as the law functions on two levels. On the legal side, a barrier is that Barnfridsbrott depends on the prosecution of an underlying crime which limits its legal effectiveness. On the social side the study reveals shortcomings in society's ability to provide protection and psychosocial support to affected children. In conclusion, this study shows that Barnfridsbrott aligns only partially with its intended objectives, including the aim of protecting children who witness domestic violence. This reflects a gap between law in theory and law in practice. Lastly, the study argues for further research to strengthen the protection of children's rights. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9195348
- author
- Mathiasson, Nicole LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SOLM02 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Barnfridsbrott, Domestic violence, Children's rights, Implementation, Law in books and Law in action
- language
- English
- id
- 9195348
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-23 09:29:14
- date last changed
- 2025-06-23 09:29:14
@misc{9195348,
abstract = {{Domestic violence is an issue that affects one out of ten children in society. Witnessing domestic violence has serious negative consequences, and it goes against the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Barnfridsbrott is a newly implemented law in Sweden introduced as a result of incorporating the CRC into national law. The law was created due to both legal limitations and the need for additional protection for exposed children. This study aims to examine how Barnfridsbrott is implemented in practice and whether it achieves its intended goal of protecting children who have witnessed domestic violence. To explore this, a qualitative approach was applied through semi-structured interviews with ten professionals, mainly from Barnahus, including a lawyer, a psychologist, police officers and social workers. Additionally, a child rights lawyer from Children's Rights in Society (BRIS) and a municipal Ombudsman for children were interviewed to gain an overarching perspective. Lastly, a licensed psychotherapist from the National Board of Institutional Care was interviewed. The theoretical framework is based on three theories: law in books and law in action, street-level bureaucracy and the theory of norms. Together these provided a multidimensional perspective on how Barnfridsbrott operates and how professionals apply it. Furthermore, the findings highlight both legal and social aspects, as the law functions on two levels. On the legal side, a barrier is that Barnfridsbrott depends on the prosecution of an underlying crime which limits its legal effectiveness. On the social side the study reveals shortcomings in society's ability to provide protection and psychosocial support to affected children. In conclusion, this study shows that Barnfridsbrott aligns only partially with its intended objectives, including the aim of protecting children who witness domestic violence. This reflects a gap between law in theory and law in practice. Lastly, the study argues for further research to strengthen the protection of children's rights.}},
author = {{Mathiasson, Nicole}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{“Barnfridsbrott collapses?!" - A socio-legal study of the Swedish law on children who witness domestic violence}},
year = {{2025}},
}