Competent Actors or Vulnerable Objects? Constructions of Children and State Intervention among Finnish Politicians in Relation to the Child Protection Act 1983 and 2006

Abstract

AbstractThis article investigates constructions of children and state intervention among Finnish MPs during the parliamentary debates relating to the 1983 and 2006 enactments of the Child Protection Act. It seeks to illuminate the politicization of children within a parliamentary framework, and to illuminate the role of dominant discourses, ideas and ideological views in shaping child protection policy. The research data consist of the official transcriptions of speeches made by MPs during the preliminary debates relating to the 1983 and 2007 bills on child protection.The data were analysed by using qualitative content analysis. The results suggest that the notion of the child as an actor with individual rights was rather controversial among MPs in 1983. The core of this controversy consisted of whether or not parental authority should be weakened in favour of enhanced child agency, and whether it would be advisable to permit more intense public intervention in the family sphere. In the 2006 debate, by contrast, the idea of children's rights and agency had become an uncontested principle that impregnated most of the speakers' statements. However, this accentuation of the child's agency pro forma was accompanied by rather gloomy evaluations of the well‐being of contemporary families with children, including claims for more rigorous public actions in order to regulate family‐related risks. This resulted in a somewhat paradoxical situation where children's rights were emphasized, while at the same time stricter demands on public and adult control over children were presented.