The Relationship Rights of Children [Hardcover]

James G. Dwyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 2006

This 2006 book presents a sustained theoretical analysis of what rights children should possess in connection with state decision making about their personal relationships which the state does in numerous aspects of family law, including paternity, adoption, custody and visitation, termination of parental rights, and grandparent visitation. It examines the nature and normative foundation of adults' rights in connection with relationships among themselves and then assesses the extent to which the moral principles underlying adults' rights apply also to children. It concludes that the law should ascribe to children rights equivalent (though not identical) to those which adults enjoy, and this would require substantial changes in the way the legal system treats children, including a reformation of the rules for establishing legal parent-child relationships at birth and of the rules for deciding whether to end a parent-child relationship.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

This is a 2006 philosophical analysis of a legal topic. It uses welfare-based and autonomy-based moral theories to develop a theory of what rights children should have when the legal system makes decisions about their family relationships.

About the Author

James G. Dwyer received his JD degree from Yale Law School and a PhD in philosophy from Stanford University. He taught at the University of Wyoming School of Law and Chicago-Kent School of Law. He has worked as an attorney in law firms in Washington, DC and as a law guardian representing children in family court in upstate New York. He has published several articles and book chapters on children's rights in law journals such as The California Law Review and the North Carolina Law Review. He has written two books - Religious Schools v. Children's Rights and Vouchers Within Reason: A Child-Centered Approach to Education Reform.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 378 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (April 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521862248
• ISBN-13: 978-0521862240
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,960,231 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who is looking out for the child?, August 8, 2008

By 

Chuck (The Great White North) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leo Strauss and Emmanuel Levinas (Kindle Edition)

James Dwyer is perhaps the foremost scholar on children's rights in the United States. This book only adds to his accomplishments. The current legal system does more to protect parents who abuse and neglect their children than it does to protect the children. We force children to be in relationships that are to their detriment that they would never choose for themselves.

Dwyer's ideas may seem radical, but his methodical arguments leave little doubt at their conclusion. To his credit he addresses counterarguments to his position that are substantive, rather than merely strawmen. In the process he gives one of the best overviews of the topic individual autonomy that I have seen.

For anyone who works to protect children, this book is required reading. When it comes to doing what is best children, our society talks a good game but does little service. The system is fundamentally flawed: this book shows the flaws and how to fix them.