Child’s
Rights
ã"ø éàéø øåðï: 76-558-01
Thanks to Ayala Klimek21/10/02
Empathy as a judicial concept:
1) The need to perceive person and his own personal interests.
2) The need to imagine the individual personal experience.
3) The need to understand the sorrow of the person and to want to do something about it so as to ease his pain.
The action
that we take should be the result of the empathy we feel towards a person.
We must perceive the interests of our fellow beings, despite differences
in culture, creed and race. The universal system of child’s right
is based on the grounds that some needs are universal. We know this
through our emphatic feelings, which go beyond cultural differences.
Human rights are part of a broader social system and enable us to empower
and to give rights to those who previously lacked them. We must try
to place ourselves in the shoes of others and to change or improve the
law accordingly. It is obligatory to report the injustice committed
to other vulnerable individuals. There is a trend in emphatic ability
- parents who abuse children probably also suffered from difficult abusive
childhoods. Who do we empathize with? Which of the victims does the
court support? Even though human rights should protect everybody, sometimes
it is biased towards the poor, sick, weak and inferior. In the
case of an abused child, our perspective must be child-centered and
not parent-centered. Wife abuse is a fairly new phenomenon and raises
the question of what falls into the boundaries of aggression. There
is a phenomenon of “false consciousness” in which a person is unaware
of the injustice does to him (e.g. prostitutes claim to be satisfied
with their work and no not sense the injury done to them). A battered
wife/mother can either have false consciousness or can realize that
she is in an unfavorable situations, but need to take care of her children.
28/10/02
What type of society are we creating? A society which is attentive to its fellow being. There needs to be responsiveness (responding to the individual in need) and not reaction to a persons need. We must ask a person in need how he feels and what is disturbing him. If we react our reaction may be self-centered and not caring. Responsibility is connected to response and responsiveness. A regime of human rights can have positive and negative aspects. For example, a youth can be a drug dealer or prostitute in order to make a living. The regime does not get involved and allows free choice. However the regime must also be responsible for its citizens.
Interpersonal relations and human rights: There is an approach that claims that all a person wants is to maximize his personal interests in all aspects. He only thinks of himself. For the good of the child should he donate bone marrow? For health reasons, it is not for his good, but the knowing that he saved his sister and has no guilty feelings is for his good. If the child donates he may have ulterior interests. He may need his sister in the future. There is mutual dependence between people.
If a person believes that all people want is to from human rights is to abuse the rights that are given by the government, then this person will not trust those in need.
Book: “Loss of Childhood”: Modern education and the modern bourgeois family lead to the loss of innocence or childhood. When we relate to the human dimension we ask the child what his definition of childhood is. Social science research shows that there is a need to show the similarities between myself and others and not to exaggerate the differences. Can we be responsive to the suffering of the individual? Professionals can use their knowledge to control others through their pathology, by stigmatizing them (Fucault). Professionals can use their knowledge to identify disease and pathology and to diagnose it and use this information to help others. But there is a need to see the similarities to and not to distance the sick to mental institutes or special education classes. The focus should be on the similarities and treatment should be given, such as family therapy or speech therapy etc. diagnoses (DSM) is not the problematic point, rather its incorrect use which distances those with pathologies.
Childhood:
in our collective consciousness we see a world that is all innocence,
freedom, carefree, play and joy. We can be responsive to the needs of
children in our society. In ancient Rome, there was sexual abuse of
young children; slaves and women were property that the owner could
do anything with. In our society there is moral responsibility to those
who are in need and who were once ignored. Now that we understand population
which we once ignored we can help them. We develop human right in areas
that we once we not open to. If children are beaten for their own good
and this is socially acceptable then there is no need for reporting.
Notes on the Human Dimension (Schwartz):
De-humanization: existence annihilation; de-personing; object-making; reification; status immersion; routinization; de-selfing; reality annihilation; affectlessness and affect stimulation.
Humanization: (1) Reasoning, focusing on, and responding to the other’s existence; (2) Affirming your right to exist. (3) Valuing your uniqueness. (4) Including you in a common Humanity.
4/11/02
Human Rights and Religious Universalisms (Eck)
D. Eck: “Human Rights” - she claims that there are universal human rights and that different religions have more in common that they have different therefore there is a need for discourse between the various groups. The question is not whether there are wars that are made in the name of religion. The question is whether we can find support úéîåëéï of human rights and universal values in the central religions. We can find throughout history and halacha, a support for the idea of relating to a person in dignity.
Are human rights a western invention? No, if we seek the values that are found at the bases of the religion. Judaism portrays a message that a person must be treated with dignity because he is a person. There are different expressions of this idea. The command “don’t kill” has an interpretation that life is precious and therefore we must not kill. Also, according to Judaism, there needs to be tolerance to other cultures. Gihad - a negative expression of a religious term. There is abuse of certain religious concepts. We cannot conclude that human rights are an invention of the western society.
Circumcision of women- there is no basis in the Islam religion that that says that women must be circumcised. This may be a conflict among cultures and is a human rights issue. In male circumcision a boy becomes part of a community and nation and this act also has religious meaning, but female circumcision we need to relate to other factors - what price does she need to pay.
Human rights are not a western invention. Human rights are written in the law. International human rights began following WWII and the holocaust because there was a disregard of human rights. In Nuremberg trials it was concluded that all people have basic rights, even if they contradict man-made laws. Each person needs to identify these basic universal human right.
The judge in the Supreme Court refers to natural morals. “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” - this should refer to all people and not only Jews.
ôñ÷ ãéï ëôø ÷ñí - relates to an order that defies the law. One may only obey an order if it is in the boundaries of the law. There was a curfew on Kfar Kasem. There was an order that all those who disobey the curfew, may God have mercy on him. Many innocent people, who went to work in agricultural work and returned late in the evening, were shot. Those who acted according to the order, acted according to the law. But this soldier did not know that this command was against the law. There are orders that are obviously incorrect, and all need to recognize it as against the law. Each soldier must have the ability to see this as obvious, if he has empathy. There is a need to respect others human rights even if there is no formal law calming that human rights must be observed. The person must understand the fellow humans needs and suffering and have empathy toward him and therefore refrain for hurting him. Human rights do not need to be in the law because it should be a basic instinct or moral.
Nazi’s argued that if they had refused to obey the law their lives would be threatened, or they would lose their social status and rights. Should they obey the laws or have respect for human rights. The Nuremberg trail concluded that human rights must be first and foremost obeyed and then man-made laws or orders. Each person deserves to be treated with dignity and human rights.
Rabbi Kook speaks of innate or basic morals.
In certain cases if the committee does not solve the child’s problems there is a right to reject the system of consultants and to turn to a lawyer. Our emphatic tendencies give us the strength to reject the norms and to turn to another cause. This is a development of human rights. We need to listen to our intuition and not to obey other authorities or laws.
How are human right a comfort to us that we will be able to get food if we are hungry, or get the assistance that we need in times of trouble, and not be abused or discriminated against. Our perception of child rights must not be ethno-centric. We must not force our values on others. To what extent are our values universal? If we are fundamentalistic we distance ourselves from human rights. Human right must have a coherent perspective and be relevant to all people. We need to be able to identify with those who are different to us.
11/11/02
While listening to the story of the “other” - who can be a child, a battered woman, a person who is discriminated against etc, we give a voice to the other to tell his story. Child rights are beyond the civil law. To understand this we need to know his story and suffering, and we need to know that the child deserves his rights even if it is against the law and even if the law needs to be changed of altered.
Midrash: Plotit, Lots daughter, fed a hungry person and she knew that her sentence, according to Sodom law, is death. But she did what she thought was right and moral. She challenges the people of Sodom that maybe it is time to change the law and to be allowed to feed the needy. Her outrage -za’aka leads to the angels coming and destroying Sodom. Plotit was able to put herself into the shoes of another and this she did through her empathy towards the needs. The midrash shows the norm that was accepted in Sodom and how one can go out against it. We need to be able to see the other and to step into his shoes by means of hearing the others personal story.
Judicial laws are connected to personal interpretation. Giving benefit of the doubt or not. There is place for empathy if a judge wants. Marriage, divorce, etc. The halacha refers to one’s empathic ability to carry the verdicts and laws as they were presented. When a child gets kitsvat-ildim, it depends on whether his father served 36 months in the army. But how do they know whether the person goes to miluim and how much he serves. Maybe all children should be granted these allowances ÷öáä. But what does the state know about the child. There needs to be empathy towards the child.
A Jewish boy needs to be brought up in Israel. There are over million children who died in holocaust, but this may not be relevant for each child. But some children may be better off overseas if they live under better conditions there because one of there parent live there and the other parent may be mentally ill in Israel. Therefore there is a subjective element to be considered, so to who do we need to be empathic towards. We need to be emphatic towards the child-as-the-other, the child whose narrative I do not yet know. Through the individual case I can learn about the general. I can induce from one case to another. But in order to deepen my moral, I always need to seek the “other” who I am not familiar with and try to understand him empathetically and to tell their stories so that consequently the society can change and extend their views of human rights. The other gradually looses its “other” characteristics.
USA - separate but equal - black and white children were segregated in schools in USA. Human rights of all children should have been considered. According to human rights we cannot separate children on the basis of skin colour, but another 20 years later they said that the child who has learning disabilities is more different than similar to other children and therefore should not be separated from other normal children. A child with hearing disabilities should be integrated with normal children and be given to tools to help him integrate (i.e. hearing aid). The question is that whether the mere segregation leads to undeveloped potential. This does not justify segregating the child.
In the 50’s
in the USA the Afro-American was no longer segregated. The state needed
to be emphatic towards them and to integrate them into the larger society.
We need to be tolerant and emphatic towards others and we need to involve
them in the normal society and not to discriminate against them. Does
the society seek the “other” in order to turn him into a scapegoat
or to help and understand him? Empathy erases the “otherness” and
the alienation that stems from it.
3) Y. Ronen: “The Child Advocate as a Facilitator of the Child’s Participation in Juvenile Court Proceedings”.
The voice of
the child must be heard and the advocate can only do this through listening
to and understanding the child and empathizing with him. To know how
child participates authentically the advocate or social work needs to
let the child be heard. The social work must ask himself if the answer/response
to the child is to help him or to “ñðâåø”. A study was conducted
which shows how empathy is de-legitimized, by saying that empathy leads
to lack of objectivity. The state new that the child was abused and
this abuse led to irreversible mental retardation. The state is not
responsible because they did not get involved (Minov).
4)
æëåéåú äéìã-äàîðí ìèåáúå?
4) R. Cover: “Obligations: A Jewish Jurisprudence of the Social Order”
People may passively support human rights but someone needs to take responsibility and to implement them. The article states that it believes in human rights. However, these rights are not only rights, rather that society is obligated to provide them!!
What do child rights claim? A child can approach a counselor and say that he deserves to go to a club, to be heard, to not be thrown out of the class without been heard etc.
We need to consider each case in its broad perspective. If a child is aggressive we need to ask what are the causes and may come to a conclusion that the anger stems from his parents and adoptive parents and then to talk to the parents who can influence the child. We cannot look at the child and his aggression towards hostel master in isolation because then the child is solely to blame.
A child is
not born a demon but when early in adolescence the child is involved
in undesired behaviors such as abusing animals he must be given a treatment
and be in follow-up to see how the issue develops. Adolescents who murder
people always had earlier problems that were often recognized by school
counselors, but no solution was provided when problems first reached
the surface. So we want to give children freedom (sex, drugs etc, that
leads to disaster) or are there also social rights (education, health,
care and services etc). What do I need to do so that children are protected
from neglect and abuse? The state needs to be involved and children
need to be part of the priorities.
18/11/02
5)
äéìã äðåùà áæëåéåú - äàîðí àãí òöîàé ùàéðå
îçéåá ìàéù?
é. øåðï: "æëåú äéìã ìæëåéåú ëæëåú ìäùúééëåú"
When we speak of child’s rights to belong we do not suggest that this is the child’s right to choose what he wants. But if the child is too young to make a choice or is unable to make a choice the social work needs to make the decision in his name considering his situation and putting himself in his shoes. The child knows to whom he belongs (i.e. he may feel closer to his grandma than to his father). We cannot determine things that are not connected to the child. The child has his right to have an identity but we need to make sure what his identity is from his subjective point of view and what significance he gives to his identity. If a child lived in a Haredi family we cannot move him to a religious family of Litaim Jews if the Haredi background in significant for him. Sometimes social workers do not consider the culture, mentality and familial situation of the child and often want to create a new human being (turn Sephardim into Ashkenazim). There needs to be a consistency between identities so that a whole personality is created. The formation of an identity is a dynamic process that cannot be cut because of a rapture in the person’s life and experience. He known who he is and to where he belongs. There needs to be a balance of interests. A child who suffers from incest and abuse needs to weigh this reality against an alternative home for himself and his removal form his parent’s house. There is always a compromise. Often what we do is the best choice but is not the ideal solution. We need to be connected to and aware of the personal story of the individual to make the best decision in his best interests.
“Open adoption” - The child has a connection to his biological parents. Why is this allowed today? Services acknowledge the need for consistency in the formation of identity. This is usually the case with parents who are drug addicts. The child may still be connected to his biological parents. If the adoption is closed the child may idealize the biological parents. The adoptive parents take care of child but we respect the child’s need for identity and belonging to his biological parent’s background and ethnic group. A closed relationship with the adoptive parents may have adverse effects. If one day the child wants to have a connection with his parents he needs to have some connection to his past and background. Therefore, the adoptive family needs to be as similar as possible in ethnic background to the biological parents.
Is the child in the article without roots and not connected to anybody? Does he deserve human rights? This child needs to be connected to what is significant to him - his surroundings, culture, mentality, prayers, leisure and family activities.
We need to define the interests of the child. Is the child committed to his parents, siblings, other strangers or animals and plants? The child must not be committed only to himself through his rights. He also needs to be committed to others - family, strangers, animals and plants etc. If we ensure that the child is respected, treated with dignity and given his rights he too will learn to respect others and not violate their rights. There is interaction-dependence between people who function in relationships.
Man is not innately wicked. Wickedness is not intrinsic, rather it the result of a non-supportive environment. According to the law it is forbidden for an employer to ask whether the applicant has a criminal past. The past must be forgotten and the perspective is optimistic - a person can change. Some people can be rehabilitated while others might not be able to.
In the article: One of the parents belongs to a cult. Israeli court claimed that the child must not be exposed to the cults beliefs, while Canadian court claims that he can be exposed. None of these courts considered the child’s interests and his desires. Each child is exposed to his parent’s belief and attitudes. They did not want the child to get confused with the cult’s beliefs and father’s beliefs. But on the other hand the child may be attracted to the cults if he is prevented from knowing it.
Social workers want to ensure that the child has rights to family life and also the right to be protected from violence. There is a conflict between the two. One way to solve this is all or nothing. Till the threshold is not reached the social worker does not intervene. If it passes the threshold then the child is removed from his home. This method is used when there are few resources. Under these circumstances there is no time to talk to family and action must be taken as soon as the threshold is reached. Therefore one right is often on the account of the other. Social workers are often tempted to use this method. They then make the choice to remove the child to the hostel, even though they have the option to conduct successful family treatment (during which the child may be beaten again). This chance should often be taken because in the long run it could be advantageous. There is a chance for change to take place but often the short cut is taken because the social worker does not want to take responsibility. Sometimes the social worker empathizes with the parents and not with the child.
The assumption
that an injury to the child justifies judicial intervention is more
common than leaving him at home. The child is in a situation that the
judicial court must intervene (i.e. the child is a beggar), but we must
consider if this is more important than intervention by which the child
is removed from the home. There may be a situation in which judicial
intervention is justified, but this action may have greater consequences
than removing the child from his home. Under bad parenting conditions
the social worker intervenes. But sometimes the child learns to develop
and grow in his situation. His family is not perfect but there is a
process in which the child can grow and learn. The social worker becomes
the parent/counselor of the relationship between the parents and child.
The social worker must be protective but not too protective, so as not
to close options and child’s potential to develop.
25/11/02
6) æëåéåú äéìã áîùôè äéùøàìé - äùìëåú àùøåø äàîðä áãáø æëåéåú äéìã åç÷é÷ú çå÷ éñåã: ëáåã àãí åçéøåúå
ñ. øåèìåé: "äùåéåï åëáåã ìéìã - îáè çãù"
Decisions Committee - åòãú äçìèä ùôåòì îèí úò"ñ (úãøéê òáåãä ñåöéàìéú)
If there is a conflict between child rights and úò"ñ then the latter is cancelled. If a child is in danger due to violence or neglect a committee is appointed to discuss the matter. If the case is presented in a juvenile court the court places central weight on the committee who is considered to be an experienced team. Parents usually do not bring a contradictory professional opinion. Consequently the child is removed from his home. Only through the law can one shake the authority of the family. These processes of removing a child from his home are often done against the law and too much authority is in the hands of social workers.
We need to consider children’s rights. Some of which are: Right to be loved; right to be protected; right to education; right to participate; right to food; right to have an identity; right to normal living conditions. When removing a child from his home we need to consider whether the above needs are supplied, especially his (and his parent’s) right to participate in the decision to remove him from his home. The social worker needs to consider whether if she removes the child he is doing the child justice or injustice. She needs to consider the options and consider all the consequences of her decision.
Family group conference (method used in New Zealand). The social worker is a child advocate/ facilitator and presents his concerns. The entire family, significant others and social workers participate in the conference. Parents hear the concerns and need to resolve the problems. If they can provide an intervention strategy and solution then the family take care of the problem. The parents need to take responsibility and not to throw problem solving onto the social worker. The parents are empowered and realize that they can offer a solution and implement it. In other forms of treatment the parents are often children who are treated in a patronizing manner by the social workers.
In Israel there are changes in the human rights laws. Are there contradictions between human rights and committee decisions? Are the decisions, made about individual’s destinies, compatible to human rights laws? There is often a gap between the two and bridges need to be created.
Israel presented a report of the Israeli situation and the settlement areas. The report consists of databases that include health, education, services for children etc. The report also presents proposals for issues to be solved in the future. The report is presented every 5 years. A committee in Geneva comments on the report. The report exposed problems which became the topics of future solutions.
What changed in the last 5 years due to the reports?
1957: New law (çå÷ òáåãú ðåòø) - If the welfare minister prevents youth from working he also needs to hear the voice of the child who goes out to find a job.
Allowing the child in juvenile court to have a advocate. This enables the child’s voice to be heard.
Considering cultural and ethnic identity of the child. Child’s rights to open-adoption and respecting his background.
The basic principal
of human rights preserves human dignity. Children have a right to dignity
and respect and therefore other needs have to satisfied (food for hungry
children) in order for the primary right to be fulfilled. All other
rights stem from this basic right.
09/12/02
5)
äéìã äðåùà áæëåéåú - äàîðí àãí òöîàé ùàéðå
îçéåá ìàéù?
Topic #5: Does the child who has rights have other responsibilities?
What does article suggest? That others have obligations towards the child, but he answers to no-one?! The child is not defined as independent. The Liberal theory claims that the individual’s freedom must be preserved. Each person has rights. We ask whether the children, who can realize their rights (cultural, religious etc), want to fulfill their rights not out of personal gain. A child wants to pray in a certain place. What happened to people who wish to fulfill their right for ulterior gains? (E.g. In the Primaries people want to get chosen to further their own interests and not because they want to contribute to the state. There is freedom of expression, freedom to vote and to be voted for. We all have these rights, but often people abuse these rights, because they are focusing of surviving. Sometimes a right is not used for the purpose that it was first created for. If a person had his needs satisfied he would be able to contribute to democracy.
If we will not defend a persons needs and dependencies and prevent him from development a coherent identity, this will result in a situation in which people are busy trying to fulfill needs that were not satisfied during their childhood. (E.g. Holocaust survivors are constantly searching for food, because only they were lacking during the war, and this prevents them for getting on with their lives). Only once a person’s basic needs have been satisfied (Maslows lowest level of the triangle), than a person can deal with issue son other levels and dimensions (Masows higher level of the triangle).
A child whose basic need for love was not satisfied can become a prostitute or can be in an abusive relationship in which they are victims because this is the only way they know how to feel love. A child needs a response for his basic need of interpersonal closeness and this can be enforced through rights. Children who were immigrants from North Africa were embarrassed by their parent’s culture and could not development their identity. Their basic rights were not satisfied because their families were not respected.
Conclusion
of Article #5: The child is not independent. There is mutual
dependents between the child and his family and the community. He is
responsible to others just like others are responsible towards him.
Only if a child has parents (against whom he can rebel) can he create
a coherent identity and to make his own choices. It is necessary that
parents learn to contain the rebellious development of their children
in order for the child to crystallize a complete identity. If parents
are too strict then their children will turn to the street in order
to express themselves. The child needs to be given the basic human respect
but at the same time needs to be shown the boundaries, which need to
be flexible. There are rights and obligations and there is a dialect
between the two. There needs to be autonomy and boundaries. There needs
to be rights and responsibilities.
16/12/02
7)
ñðâåø åùéðåé çáøúé
How does language of human right lead to change? (Milow). When we represent human rights we need to respect these rights. We have obligations and responsibilities towards others. This goes beyond legal responsibility because it includes moral responsibility towards others. Lets say that I see someone been beaten and there is no legal obligation to report the case - how should I react. If we love our neighbors as we love ourselves, should we not do something about the injustice that we see? Each person who is considered to be a “neighbor” deserves to be loved by others. This refers to all others. Therefore love is translated into our responsibility towards others. How can we talk about a decree to love another or to be emphatic towards him or to be responsibly towards him? In Jewish writing there are 2 orders: “Love thy neighbor as you love yourself”. “Do not do to others that what you do not want them to do to you”. This is the basis of human rights. I am responsible to others at least to the extent that I will not harm the other, or do to him what I do not want done to myself. One can represent human right and simultaneously be alienated from the individual (i.e. feeling no empathy for the person). One respects other’s human rights and in return wants his right respected.
The alternative ways to help need to be adapted to the person, his situation and his needs and not the other way round. We cannot take the alternatives and tailor them to suit people. We need to know the person and his needs. We need to know the client, his background, his experiences and his problem. We need to know what level the person is on and to provide him with suitable treatment for his level.
A mother of
eight is requesting a kindergarten for her child. She is not making
this request because she is lazy. Sometimes we cannot offer a solution
because it does not exist. The social worker can tell her client that
she agrees that she deserves assistance, but unfortunately no assistance
is available.
Jerald Lopez - article
We all want to support human rights. It is humane to not want to be is a distressing situation. We have an interest that others will respect our human rights. We can only imagine how it is to be an immigrant who differs from others in religion, ethical background, poverty etc. We can respect human rights without identifying with the person. A person does not only want to promote his interests. When we want to represent others and to lead to change we need to do it by considering the other and his needs. We need to identify with the client if we want to represent him. Our empathy toward others is translated into human rights and likewise into our ability to use human rights to make a change and to help others. We need to understand others from their personal point of view.
The legal perspective leads people to think that representing others is in their professional interests. So how can representation be connected to moral responsibility? We are conditioned to believe that there is a separation between the legal and moral systems.
Social change includes providing solutions to those in need.
There is no place for empathy in legal matters, because empathy is part of the moral system. Anything connected to legal representation is part of business interest. Love is also an emotional reaction. Love is conscious and directed towards others. It is an attempt to make an effort, which results in an internal sense of fulfillment. When a person is obligated to love another without the internal deep feeling of love.
Rabbi Kook,
Martin Luther King; Mahatma Gandhi. They all made similar statements
about love. Love is a directed effort. King says that the aim is to
like those that I do not like. I must react in a way that is opposed
to my natural impulse. Love is the responsibly to behave towards others
in an empathetic manner.
23/12/02
7)
ñðâåø åùéðåé çáøúé
Is representing someone enough or should the person feel empathy, should he be emotionally involved. There is criticism of those who are emotionally involved. A response is thought to be irrational if it is emotional. If an anonymous person is emotionally involved does this have adverse effect on his work? Does it give a broader perspective of the case? Gandhi, says that loving thy neighbor is against the basic instinct of man. The difference between man and beast is his drawing closer to others in feelings. It is difficult to apply loving thy neighbor but it can be applied, although only by a few. How does this knowledge affect social workers? When I look at a 15-year-old youth and read his assessment, there may be classifying diagnoses such as - the youth had psychotic tendencies. If a child abuses animals, there is theory about the unhealthy and dangerous state that he could find himself in, in the future. But if adults can be empathetic toward others they can understand that they can change and are not bad by nature. I must see his suffering during early childhood and know that he can change before he reaches adulthood. The society is comfortable with judgmentalism and wants the social workers to be agents of the society. Is the social worker’s responsibility towards the client or the society? According to the law the social worker’s primary responsibility is towards the client and not towards the society, if there is no other choice. Sometimes the social worker needs to swim against the stream of society in order to represent his client. All the committees need to serve first and foremost the child and not his parents or society. The social work owes it to the society to present a coherent and integrated picture of the child and his potential rehabilitation through treatment. The social worker however needs to find a balance between the child and the potential victims of his behavior. Appropriate treatment must be proposed but not on account of family members or society.
ôñ÷ ãéï áéú îùôè òìéåï: Must a father compensate his children whom he refused to see while the child was growing up? The court does not even speak of child rights. Is emotional neglect a part of child rights? Is a financial restitution appropriate? Ronen says yes. But where is the boundary? Can a child sue his parents for hurting him? There is no law that forces people to love one another. The judge does not see the court of law as a means to change public opinion and perspective. The judge does not propose alternative opinions on the subject. If a judge, social work, minister, defendant etc. needs to reach a decision they can use their empathetic ability. If there is ambivalence in a certain situation, then the behavioral obligation is a means to change attitudes. Attitudes can change once behavior changes have set in. Behavior can first be changed and this will consequently be followed by changes in attitude. Child deserves a place to sleep, to eat etc. This comes from loving thy neighbor as oneself. I can use this statement in order to persuade others.
Hesed and Din are intertwined in the Jewish law.
My emphatic ability will give be courage to go against the society in order to represent the child.
çåáú äìááåú: The subjective understanding of the of the Jewish norms makes this a way of life. Change of internal consciousness is the start of social change.
Judge Englar: Measures need to be changed.
There is a difference between two systems: the legal and moral (îùôèé åîåñøé)
Something is moral when in comes form internal needs. A legal obligation cannot be moral in nature, because moral is an automatic response.
What is the connection between law and human consciousness? The judge says “nothing”. But in treatment, the law is the limit.
In society there are moral norms, which are not determined socially and not individually. Law is cultural. Jewish law is cultural and it is a way because life (úåøú çééí). Modern law is aims to direct behaviour but it fashions human consciousness. People tend to think that what law states in also true form a moral perspective. If the law does not punish trafficking and only deports the women who sell their bodies, people begin to believe that women are second-class. The law therefore constructs and shapes the social consciousness through the laws that it passes. Consequently people begin to identify with the law and to think that it is morally normal.