NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
ERIC Number: EJ923350
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Jun
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1053-1890
EISSN: N/A
Social Information in Court Decisions of Compulsory Child Adoption in Israel
Ben-David, Vered
Child & Youth Care Forum, v40 n3 p233-249 Jun 2011
Ambiguity over the concepts of "parental capability" and "the child's best interests" in the Israeli adoption law, and a lack of sufficient professional knowledge can lead to bias in the professional decision-making process regarding child adoption. This study investigates the idea that judges do not use only legal considerations and relevant information relating to the child-parent relationship but also social information about the biological parent whose parental capability is under legal consideration. The study makes use of the priming paradigm as a conceptual framework for understanding the possible effect of social information on legal judgments in child adoption cases. The textual narrative analysis of 130 court decisions in favor of compulsory adoption reveals the use in courts of three kinds of social information about biological parents: familial information, sexual information, and social-functional information. The study discusses the role of such information in establishing the judicial narrative of parental incapability. In order to "de-bias" the judicial decision-making process regarding child placement, a number of strategies for consideration as social policy are proposed.
Springer. 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-348-4505; e-mail: service-ny@springer.com; Web site: http://www.springerlink.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Israel
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A