The Construction of Parental Authority and Co-operation in Reports to the Dutch Court

The texts of 21 reports presented to the court by Child Welfare and Protection (CWP) workers in the Netherlands were examined to explicate the meanings ascribed to 'parental authority' and 'parental co-operation'. These constructs are central in CWP in recommending a Family Supervision Order, the most frequent measure practiced by the Dutch Juvenile Court to protect children from risk. Three types of parent-child relationship were described by this examination: (1) The child is portrayed as the cause for risk because of his personality problems; (2) The parent-child relationship is described as the risk; (3) The parent is described as carrying the risk because of his personality problems. Recommendations for a Family Supervision Order were made for all three groups. This recommendation was supported by the assessment of parental co-operation. Although four patterns of parental attitude toward professional help have been described, all ended up in presenting the parents as co-operative. The uniform recommendations made by the reporters as well as the uniform assessment of parents as co-operative indicate a parallel compliant position of the reporters vis-a-vis the court, as well as the construction of the parent as compliant in relation to the reporters. © 2001 Academic Press.