NEW ARTICLE: The researchers Jill Duerr Berrick, Kenneth Burns, Tarja Pösö, Joseph N. Roscoe, and Marit Skivenes, have examined youth attitudes toward child protection and state intervention. The study is titled “Ask the children: youth views about parenting, parental freedom, and child safety. A survey study of youth in Finland, Ireland, Norway, and USA”, is published in the International Journal of Adolescence and Youth. The paper analyzes data from 2,010 young people aged 15–17 in the above-mentioned four countries, and compares youth perspectives to adult views in Norway and the U.S.
Findings indicate that youth generally support restrictions on parenting practices when risk to the infant rises. Youth perspectives were largely similar to adult opinions, suggesting a shared understanding of child protection issues across generations. Overall, their responses suggest broad support for protective measures.
Differences Across Countries
Across all countries, youth attitudes toward state intervention varied depending on the level of perceived risk to the child, but the study also reveals variations in youth attitudes between countries. Norwegian youth were more supportive of unrestricted parenting compared to respondents from other countries. Finnish youth were more likely to favor suspending parental rights under certain conditions, particularly at moderate levels of risk.
Implications for Policy and Future Research
The findings contribute to discussions on how youth perspectives can inform child protection policies. Including young people in policy discussions could lead to more informed and effective child welfare strategies. The study also underscores the need for further research into how public attitudes, both youth and adult, shape and are shaped by national welfare systems.
While the study highlights general alignment between youth and adult views, it also raises important questions about how different stakeholders within families perceive state intervention.
This article is part of the Children’s Right to Participation project. The study is open access and available here.