The least detrimental alternative

Abstract

The decision to remove children at risk from their homes entails serious dilemmas, since both remaining in and being removed have strong negative psychological repercussions. This article presents an empirical investigation of 194 Israeli child protection officers’ decisions on 368 children at risk. Findings showed that while the officers predicted that all the children would have a better quality of life outside their homes, they removed only those where the projected disparity between the alternatives was substantial. That is, they considered not only whether one alternative was better or worse, but how much better or worse. Implications for decisions in “grey areas” are discussed.