Ethical Issues in the Care of Newborn Infants

1987 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 89-94
Author(s):  
William B. Weil
Keyword(s):  
Child Abuse ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Newborn Infants ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
The Political ◽  
Prenatal Period ◽  
Newborn Period ◽  
Abuse And Neglect ◽  
Baby Doe ◽  
Derivatives Of

Some of the difficulties of obtaining surrogate decisions that are in the children's best interests, the extension of this problem to the newborn period, and the political and social derivatives of these difficulties have been reviewed. The 1984 child abuse and neglect amendments have been summarized and their impact on the care of newborns has been discussed. The outcomes of this entire process have been described and the potential extension of these issues to the prenatal period has been mentioned. Although not everything that has transpired or will transpire as the result of the Baby Doe issue is salutary, it seems likely that the care of newborn infants has changed and will continue to change, and these changes will ultimately impact on medical care for everyone.

Parental licensing: an Australian perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 167-171
Author(s):  
Frank Ainsworth
Keyword(s):  
Child Abuse ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Social Problem ◽  
Child Abuse And Neglect ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Parental Rights ◽  
Parenting Competence ◽  
Parental Competence ◽  
The Social ◽  
Abuse And Neglect

AbstractParental licensing is the idea that parenting competence should be demonstrated prior to adults achieving full parental rights. It is a long-standing idea that is alive among a host of academic philosophers, political scientists and others interested in children’s rights. The question is – is the notion of parental licensing a good idea or is it an extreme authoritarian response to the social problem of child abuse and neglect? The next question is – if parental licensing was in place, who would decide on parental competence, what are the boundaries of competence and how would competence be measured? And what about those adults who are deemed as incompetent? It is worth considering the proposition that, by endorsing the concept of the “best interests of the child” and passing legislation that gives standing to the removal of a child from parental care, by default this constitutes a system of parental licensing.

In ‘The Best Interests of the Child’: Critical Reflections on an Overused Construct

2011 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Hansen ◽  
Frank Ainsworth
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Child Abuse ◽  
Foster Care ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Kinship Care ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Best Interest ◽  
Abuse And Neglect ◽  
Protection Legislation

The construct ‘the best interest of the child’ is embedded in child protection legislation in all Australian states and territories. This phrase or construct in its modern iteration that dates from 1973 is constantly evoked when decisions are being made about a child's future following the substantiation of a case of child abuse and neglect. The use of the best interests of the child as a standard for decision-making, even though there is no consensus in law or social science as to what the construct means, needs to be questioned. What often follows from reliance on the best interests of the child is the placement of a child in foster care or kinship care in the hope that this will produce a better outcome for the child than if they remained in parental care. No doubt this is true for some children. Recent outcomes studies of foster care point to less than promising results for many children. As a result it can be argued that placing a child in foster care is a gamble with the child's future life.

Methodological and Ethical Issues Related to Studying Child Maltreatment

1995 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 565-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
REBECCA R. S. SOCOLAR ◽  
DESMOND K. RUNYAN ◽  
LISA AMAYA-JACKSON
Keyword(s):  
Child Abuse ◽  
Child Maltreatment ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Child Abuse And Neglect ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Subject Recruitment ◽  
Abuse And Neglect ◽  
Ethical And Legal Issues ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Methodological Considerations

Research about child abuse and neglect is very complex methodologically and ethically. There are not yet uniform research definitions of the problem and the lack of prospective population-based research limits the ability to make progress. To date researchers have been reluctant to ask children directly about their maltreatment experiences because of perceptions of ethical and legal responsibilities. This article begins with a brief review of existing research about the scope and consequences of child abuse and neglect. We address methodological considerations that are especially pertinent to research about child maltreatment, including the definition of the problem, study design, and issues of causality and bias. We conclude with a discussion of ethical and legal issues that arise in the course of carrying out such research, including issues related to subject recruitment, informed consent, confidentiality, and reporting.

scholarly journals The best interests of the child: More questions about this construct?

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Ainsworth
Keyword(s):  
Child Abuse ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Child Rearing ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Alternative Interventions ◽  
International Child ◽  
The Us ◽  
Abuse And Neglect

In this article I examine the best interests of the child construct and raise questions about the utility of the construct. I also draw attention to Winnicott’s good enough parenting proposal as an alternative conceptualisation that addresses the issue of parental child-rearing capacity.The best interests construct that emanates from the US has been the dominant international child-protection paradigm for at least two decades. Associated with this construct is a focus on individual parental pathology and child-rearing deficits. Yet, family poverty is the dominant factor, rather than parental pathology or incapacity, that precipitates many child abuse and neglect cases. The question is, has the best interests construct, one that ignores poverty and social disadvantage, outlived its usefulness? This construct has certainly affected Aboriginal families and led, as evidence shows, to the over-removal of children from these families. A range of alternative interventions and a social model of child protection is then canvassed.

Ethical Issues in General Pediatric Practice

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan R. Fleischman
Keyword(s):  
Child Abuse ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Child Abuse And Neglect ◽  
Conscientious Objection ◽  
Everyday Practice ◽  
Pediatric Practice ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Abuse And Neglect ◽  
Private And Public

This chapter describes several ethical issues that occur in the everyday practice of pediatrics, including: parent refusal of immunizations, suspected child abuse and neglect, conscientious objection to providing specific treatments, and parental requests for tests and treatments that are not medically indicated. The role of religious preferences of parents and child are covered. What can the clinical practitioner do to convince parents that vaccinations are not harmful and that vaccinations are important to the health of the child and also to the population as a whole? Is firing the patient an option? What other options do clinicians have? The chapter addresses those questions, as well as the ethical issues that arise in the relationships of physicians to their employers, to private and public insurers, and to industry.

Ethical Issues in Neonatal Intensive Care

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan R. Fleischman
Keyword(s):  
Critically Ill ◽  
Neonatal Intensive Care ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Baby Doe ◽  
History Of ◽  
Bioethics Committees ◽  
The 1960S

This chapter begins with a brief history of how healthcare decisions have been made for critically ill newborns since the 1960s. Through case examples, it describes the ethical concerns and examines analytic approaches that help clinicians and parents make hard choices for their critically ill and dying newborns. The principle of “best interests” is examined and its utility and limitations described. The use of infant bioethics committees and consultants is described with examples of how they work. The chapter also covers the important role of government neonatal decision making including the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act Amendments of 1984, and the Baby Doe Rules.

Letters to the Editor

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 95 (3) ◽  
pp. 455-455
Author(s):  
Frank Clark
Keyword(s):  
Child Abuse ◽  
Human Services ◽  
Letters To The Editor ◽  
Opportunity To Respond ◽  
Health And Human Services ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Legal Foundation ◽  
Abuse And Neglect ◽  
Baby Doe ◽  
State Child

I appreciate the opportunity to respond to Dr Frader's comments. In particular, I would like to address his third concern. The last thing I would want is to add any further confusion to this issue. First, Dr Frader correctly notes that the origins of the 1984 Federal Child Abuse Amendments (FCAA) are different than the various state child abuse and neglect reporting statutes. The FCAA were explicitly passed to provide the substantive legal foundation upon which the Department of Health and Human Services could issue replacement regulations for the original Baby Doe rules.1

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