© British Association of Social Workers
The Welfare of the Child: An Examination of Judicial Opinion about Medical and Social Work Evidence in Adoption Cases
Christopher Bagley studied social administration at Exeter and Essex Universities. He has worked with handicapped children, and is a qualified teacher. He has two adopted sons. After working with the M.R.C. Social Psychiatric Unit he published The Social Psychology of the Child with Epilepsy (Routledge, 1971). He is now Reader in Sociology at the University of Surrey, Guildford
Summary
An examination has been made of judicial decisions concerning adoption and custody of children since 1926. It has been found that, despite the legal principle that the 'welfare of the child' should be paramount, the law has been interpreted by judges in ways at variance with the judgements of doctors and social workers about the child's welfare As late as 1969, by the order of a Judge, a child was removed from adoptive parents and given to the jurisdiction of her natural father, who had strangled the child's mother. The Law Lords in 1971 decided that medical evidence about the harmful effects of a child's removal from a secure foster home was generally unnecessary, Judges being able to decide these issues themselves. Cases are cited, which have not reached the courts, of children being taken from secure foster homes and placed in unsuitable surroundings by natural parents. Some proposals for a change of law are proposed, as well as in social work practice. The principle formulated is that greater stress should be laid on the mental health and future well-being of the child, than on parental rights over the child