The Child’s Best Interests and the Politics of Adoptions from Care in Norway

Abstract

This paper examines how Norway turned to a more active policy on adoption in the child welfare system. It examines the full public records from all four times that the government and Storting debated adoption from care, over the period 2002–2013. I analyse the empirical and normative arguments that shaped policy, through a discourse theoretical framework (Habermas, 1996) to distinguish different types of arguments. The Article contributes an empirical case for analysing the normative aspects of social and welfare policy. The findings show that an active adoption policy is justified by strengthening of child-centred perspectives. First, research and expert discourse gained influence in the framing of adoption policy over time. Second, the ethical response to this knowledge base has been to shift attention from shared family needs to the child’s individual and developmental needs. There are signs that legislators view adoption in relation to children as independent legal subjects with rights.