Punishing parents?! The responsibility of parents when their child commits an offence

• In Event: Who Looks Out for the Children: Parents, Youth Services, or Educators?

Abstract

Parents have the primary responsibility for the upbringing of their child. When children commit an offence, parents are more often seen as ‘co-responsible’ and are expected to be involved in the solution, e.g. by hearing them, involving them in the reaction towards the child, or even being punished themselves. In recent years we observe a growing trend towards more responsibility and more punitive action towards these parents in both political debate and legislation. However, it is far from clear what exactly is meant by (parental) responsibility, what the aim is, and to what extent legislation could or should involve parents in the response to their children’s offences.
In my PhD I will address these questions and evaluate the Flemish juvenile delinquency law and law regarding administrative sanctions, taking into account requirements and limitations following from human and children’s rights instruments and findings from empirical research. For this presentation the focus is on the concept of parental responsibility (when children commit an offence) and the limitations and requirements that can be derived from human and children’s rights instruments for states’ juvenile delinquency laws and laws on administrative sanctions (when applicable to minors). The Flemish juvenile delinquency law will be used as an illustration.

Author

• Ninne Menten, KU Leuven