Coercive care orders. Participation as a dilemma between the child's need for protection, respect for evolving capacities and vulnerability

This research project is about the administrative court process in coercive care orders and the child’s participation in it. The aim is to analyze the child’s participation in this context and how to achieve legal certainty for the child in such a process.

In the project the child’s participation, including the question what participation is as well as the question of implementation, is explored as a dilemma. The dilemma consists of different aspects concerning how to consider the child’s need for protection, give respect to the child’s evolving capacities and the aspect of vulnerability. Drawing on current research on relational autonomy and Martha Fineman’s work on vulnerability, the prevailing perspectives on the child as a right bearer and a legal subject are challenged.