Child Protection, Disability and Obstetric Violence: Three Case Studies from Iceland

Rice, James Gordon; Bjargardóttir, Helga Baldvins; Sigurjónsdóttir, Hanna Björg

doi:10.3390/ijerph18010158

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Child Protection, Disability and Obstetric Violence: Three Case Studies from Iceland

James Gordon Rice

^1,*,

Helga Baldvins Bjargardóttir

² and

Hanna Björg Sigurjónsdóttir

School of Social Sciences, University of Iceland, 105 Reykjavík, Iceland

HelgaBaldvins slf, 103 Reykjavík, Iceland

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(1), 158; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18010158

Received: 20 November 2020 / Revised: 18 December 2020 / Accepted: 25 December 2020 / Published: 28 December 2020

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Obstetric Violence and Women's Health)

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Abstract

This contribution is a collective re-analysis of three research projects in Iceland focused on parenting with a disability which draws upon data spanning a twenty-year period. The core purpose of these projects is to understand why parents with primarily intellectual disabilities encounter such difficulties with the child protection system. Our aim with this contribution is to identify, through a longitudinal and comparative framework, why these difficulties persist despite a changing disability rights environment. A case study methodology has been employed highlighting three cases, one from each research project, which focus narrowly on disabled parents’ struggles with the child protection system in the context of the maternity ward. The findings, framed in the concept of structural violence, indicate poor working practices on the part of healthcare and child protection, a lack of trust, and that context is still ignored in favour of disability as the explanatory framework for the perceived inadequacies of the parents. We contend that child protection authorities continue to remain out of step with developments in disability and human rights. The contribution concludes to make a case as to why the concept of obstetric violence is a useful framework for criticism and advocacy work in this area. View Full-Text

Keywords: disability; Iceland; child protection; obstetric violence; custody deprivation; intellectual disability; disability studies

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

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MDPI and ACS Style

Rice, J.G.; Bjargardóttir, H.B.; Sigurjónsdóttir, H.B. Child Protection, Disability and Obstetric Violence: Three Case Studies from Iceland. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 158. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18010158

AMA Style

Rice JG, Bjargardóttir HB, Sigurjónsdóttir HB. Child Protection, Disability and Obstetric Violence: Three Case Studies from Iceland. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(1):158. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18010158

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rice, James G., Helga B. Bjargardóttir, and Hanna B. Sigurjónsdóttir 2021. "Child Protection, Disability and Obstetric Violence: Three Case Studies from Iceland" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 1: 158. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18010158

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