Child Welfare Law, "Best Interests of the Child" Ideology, and First Nations
Liberalism has structured legal discourse such that racism is most often unintended and rarely explicit. To understand how and why law has an oppressive and discriminatory impact on First Nations and other racialized groups in Canadian society, one must look at some of its more subtle processes and,...
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1992
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ftyorkunivohls:oai:digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca:ohlj-1726 2023-08-15T12:41:17+02:00 Child Welfare Law, "Best Interests of the Child" Ideology, and First Nations Kline, Marlee 1992-04-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/ohlj/vol30/iss2/4 https://doi.org/10.60082/2817-5069.1726 https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/context/ohlj/article/1726/viewcontent/15_30OsgoodeHallLJ375_1992_.pdf unknown Osgoode Digital Commons https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/ohlj/vol30/iss2/4 doi:10.60082/2817-5069.1726 https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/context/ohlj/article/1726/viewcontent/15_30OsgoodeHallLJ375_1992_.pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Osgoode Hall Law Journal Indigenous children--Legal status laws etc Canada Indigenous Indian and Aboriginal Law Juvenile Law text 1992 ftyorkunivohls https://doi.org/10.60082/2817-5069.1726 2023-07-22T23:03:54Z Liberalism has structured legal discourse such that racism is most often unintended and rarely explicit. To understand how and why law has an oppressive and discriminatory impact on First Nations and other racialized groups in Canadian society, one must look at some of its more subtle processes and, in particular, its ideological form. The goal of this article is to provide insight into the origins and operation of "best interests of the child" ideology and to illustrate how it structures and constrains judicial decision making in the context of First Nations child welfare. Best interests ideology serves to portray the apprehension and placement of First Nations children away from their families and communities as natural, necessary, and legitimate, rather than coercive and destructive. This is accomplished, in part, through legal processes that appear to be universal and neutral, and to protect children and serve their best interests. As well, the relevance and importance of a First Nations child maintaining her First Nations identity and culture is minimized. After illustrating the difficulty involved in transforming ideology through law reform, the article concludes by suggesting that First Nations must be empowered to develop their own child welfare services outside the framework of existing provincial legislative schemes and in line with more general goals of self-government. Text First Nations York University Toronto, Osgoode Hall Law School: Osgoode Digital Commons Canada Indian Osgoode Hall Law Journal 30 2 375 425 |
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York University Toronto, Osgoode Hall Law School: Osgoode Digital Commons |
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ftyorkunivohls |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Indigenous children--Legal status laws etc Canada Indigenous Indian and Aboriginal Law Juvenile Law |
spellingShingle |
Indigenous children--Legal status laws etc Canada Indigenous Indian and Aboriginal Law Juvenile Law Kline, Marlee Child Welfare Law, "Best Interests of the Child" Ideology, and First Nations |
topic_facet |
Indigenous children--Legal status laws etc Canada Indigenous Indian and Aboriginal Law Juvenile Law |
description |
Liberalism has structured legal discourse such that racism is most often unintended and rarely explicit. To understand how and why law has an oppressive and discriminatory impact on First Nations and other racialized groups in Canadian society, one must look at some of its more subtle processes and, in particular, its ideological form. The goal of this article is to provide insight into the origins and operation of "best interests of the child" ideology and to illustrate how it structures and constrains judicial decision making in the context of First Nations child welfare. Best interests ideology serves to portray the apprehension and placement of First Nations children away from their families and communities as natural, necessary, and legitimate, rather than coercive and destructive. This is accomplished, in part, through legal processes that appear to be universal and neutral, and to protect children and serve their best interests. As well, the relevance and importance of a First Nations child maintaining her First Nations identity and culture is minimized. After illustrating the difficulty involved in transforming ideology through law reform, the article concludes by suggesting that First Nations must be empowered to develop their own child welfare services outside the framework of existing provincial legislative schemes and in line with more general goals of self-government. |
format |
Text |
author |
Kline, Marlee |
author_facet |
Kline, Marlee |
author_sort |
Kline, Marlee |
title |
Child Welfare Law, "Best Interests of the Child" Ideology, and First Nations |
title_short |
Child Welfare Law, "Best Interests of the Child" Ideology, and First Nations |
title_full |
Child Welfare Law, "Best Interests of the Child" Ideology, and First Nations |
title_fullStr |
Child Welfare Law, "Best Interests of the Child" Ideology, and First Nations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Child Welfare Law, "Best Interests of the Child" Ideology, and First Nations |
title_sort |
child welfare law, "best interests of the child" ideology, and first nations |
publisher |
Osgoode Digital Commons |
publishDate |
1992 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/ohlj/vol30/iss2/4 https://doi.org/10.60082/2817-5069.1726 https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/context/ohlj/article/1726/viewcontent/15_30OsgoodeHallLJ375_1992_.pdf |
geographic |
Canada Indian |
geographic_facet |
Canada Indian |
genre |
First Nations |
genre_facet |
First Nations |
op_source |
Osgoode Hall Law Journal |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/ohlj/vol30/iss2/4 doi:10.60082/2817-5069.1726 https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/context/ohlj/article/1726/viewcontent/15_30OsgoodeHallLJ375_1992_.pdf |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.60082/2817-5069.1726 |
container_title |
Osgoode Hall Law Journal |
container_volume |
30 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
375 |
op_container_end_page |
425 |
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1774294505790373888 |