THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD A Concept in Search of Meaning

Despite heavy use of the concept of the “best interests” of the child, there is little consensus about what criteria constitute a child's best interests or how these criteria should be applied. This article explores some of the problems of the best interest concept, from the developmental and p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFamily court review Vol. 35; no. 4; pp. 377 - 387
Main Author Kelly, Joan B.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.10.1997
Subjects
Child custody
Child development
Child psychology
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Summary:Despite heavy use of the concept of the “best interests” of the child, there is little consensus about what criteria constitute a child's best interests or how these criteria should be applied. This article explores some of the problems of the best interest concept, from the developmental and psychological perspective, and suggests that the concept is a worthwhile one if decision makers are able to go beyond cliches and superficial definitions.
ISSN:1531-2445
1744-1617
DOI:10.1111/j.174-1617.1997.tb00480.x