Et nei er et nei

Abstract

Formålet med studien var å undersøke hvilke vurderinger fylkesnemnda gjør i forhold til barnets beste, når de fastsetter samvær med foreldre når barn ikke ønsker det selv. Jeg har kun undersøkt saker etter barnevernloven. I masteroppgaven «Et nei er et nei» har jeg foretatt en dokumentanalyse av totalt 15 fylkesnemnd avgjørelser i perioden 2014-2017, som omhandler barn i alderen syv - 15 år. Utvalget består av saker som omhandler barn som er under offentlig omsorg, jf. § 4-12 som er regulert av lov om barneverntjenester (1992) (her etter kalt bvl.). Et kriterium for utvalget er vedtak som omhandler samvær mellom barn og foreldre etter offentlig omsorgsovertakelse. Det neste kriterium er at barna i vedtakene har uttrykt at de ikke ønsker samvær, med en forelder eller begge, samt at fylkesnemnda fastsetter samvær. Jeg har undersøkt hvilke vurderinger og hvordan de ulike hensynene vektlegges i vedtakene.

Summary The purpose of the study is to investigate what recommendations the Committee of Child Welfare makes in relation to visitations when the child expresses the desire not to meet with the parents. The Committee have to keep the best interests of the child, in mind when they establish contact with parents when children do not want it themselves. I have only investigated cases under the Child Welfare Act. In the master thesis "No means no". I have done a document analysis of a total of fifteen (15) cases in a period from 2014 -2017, which deals with children aged seven (7) to fifteen (15) years. The Committee considers cases concerning children who are under public care, cf. § 4-12, which is regulated by the Child Welfare Services Act (1992). One of the criteria for the chosen documents are cases about visitation between the child/children and their biological parents after the state has taken over the custody of the child. Another criteria is that the child/children in these cases have expressed unwillingness to have visitations with one or both of the parents, while The Committee of the Child Welfare have decided that visitation will take place. I have reviewed the decisions and how the various considerations are weighted in the decision making. For the sake of simplicity, I will specify how many of the children are involved and whether one or both parents are concerned. There were variations in the emphasis on the specific case depending on the individual child or children. There were variations in the emphasis on the recommendations that should be taken into account in each case. The findings give indications of what the Committee considers important or less important in relation to the best interests of the child.