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BJSW Advance Access originally published online on May 17, 2006
British Journal of Social Work 2007 37(5):785-805; doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcl035
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved.

Whose Wishes and Feelings? Children’s Autonomy and Parental Influence in Family Court Enquiries

Greg Mantle, Tina Moules, Ken Johnson, Jane Leslie, Sarah Parsons and Ray Shaffer

Dr Greg Mantle is Reader in Social Work at Anglia Ruskin University.

Dr Tina Moules is Head of the Research and Advanced Practice Department at the Institute of Health and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University.

Ken Johnson is Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Anglia Ruskin University.

Sarah Parsons is Service Manager at CAFCASS, Eastern Region, UK.

Jane Leslie is Family Court Advisor at CAFCASS, Milton Keynes, UK.

Ray Shaffer is Family Court Advisor at CAFCASS, Chelmsford, UK.

Correspondence to Dr Greg Mantle, Reader in Social Work, Anglia Ruskin University, Institute of Health and Social Care, Ashby House, Floor 1, Rivermead, Chelmsford CM1 1SQ, UK. E-mail: g.j.mantle{at}anglia.ac.uk

The importance of the child’s right to be heard and for their wishes and feelings to be taken notice of is now accepted across a broad professional and research terrain. Increasingly, children are being treated as active participants in the processes and decisions that affect them. In cases of divorce and separation, especially where parental relationships are conflicted, the accepted wisdom in the UK for many years has been for children to be protected rather than empowered. More recently, practitioners, policy makers and researchers have looked for ways to involve children, although the ‘welfare’ of the child has remained paramount. In this context, the question of how to ensure that wishes and feelings expressed are those that authentically belong to the child, rather than to their parent, sibling or other, has achieved a new significance. This article presents findings from recent research to illustrate how the tension between protection and empowerment is being played out in this aspect of welfare report enquiries carried out by CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) private law practitioners.

Keywords: family court, child’s wishes and feelings, parental influence


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