Errors and mistakes in child protection in Switzerland: a missed opportunity of reflection?

Abstract

Child protection in Switzerland was not a public welfare issue before the 20th century. After 1912, when the Swiss Civil Code took effect, state authorities were entitled to take children into custody or place them in foster families, on farms, or in residential homes. This chapter summarises how these coercive measures led to harm, injustice, and suffering for a vast number of children during the 20th century. The authors describe how a historical reappraisal of this practice fuelled a political debate that resulted in a revision in 2013 of the child and adult protection law in the Swiss Civil Code and a federal act entitling survivors to reparation payments in 2017. The amended legislation on measures to protect children from harm aimed at professionalising child protection procedures included a pivotal shift from lay to professional decision-making bodies. The current state of this process, which has led to criticism on the part of politicians, the public, and the media (particularly in fatal child protection cases) will be analysed and discussed. The chapter will provide an overview of current strategies and approaches, (or their absence) to identify and handle mistakes and errors in child protection and highlight the need for an explicit discourse on these topics in Switzerland.