Barns delaktighet i frågor om umgängesstöd
en studie av elva tingsrättsdomar
Supervised visitationChildren?s participationContact disputeChildren?s rightsUmgängesstödBarns delaktighetUmgängestvistBarns rättigheter
The purpose of this study was to examine children's participation in court proceedings on supervised visitation and to analyse the descriptions of children in court verdicts. Eleven verdicts concerning supervised visitation resolved in 2014 were collected from two district courts in Stockholm County and studied with a qualitative textual analysis. The material was analysed with participation levels influenced by the ladder of participation for children developed by Roger Hart and with the theory of sociology of childhood. Our findings showed that children's opinions were mentioned in eight of the verdicts. In four verdicts the children's will influenced the courts decisions. The children?s will was in none of the verdicts determinant for the outcome. The children's level of participation had no correlation with their age. The children were often described as having universal needs rather than individual needs. The will of the children was in some verdicts invalidated by the court because of their age and their perceived lack of ability to understand what's best for them in the future. Our conclusions are that the court rarely described the children as independent actors or took the children's wishes into account.