The child or society? : A study of Malmö's child welfare board in the early 20th century

The purpose of this thesis to examine Malmö city's child welfare board between the year 1918-1938. How did the child welfare boards work change over time and how did Malmö city's child welfare board praxis correspond to the current legislations of that time? Malmö city's child welfare board ended up handling cases that the community considered as problems related to home and upbringing. The cases varied from correction of the children's behavior by reprimand to placement in foster home or juvenile prison. Each subject was unique and different from the former, the process on the other hand was always the same. In the child welfare law of 1902 focus was placed on the children, together with their parents', immoral living rather than their physical well-being. The goal was that the children were raised to become moral and productive members of society. When the child welfare law of 1924 was put in place, Malmö city's child welfare board could also address cases of physical neglect and abuse. The child welfare law of 1924 change during the 1930s and the city's child welfare board had the opportunity to influence this process, especially concerning the age limits of individuals that could came in qustion for treatment. Malmö city's child welfare board came at numerous occasions to be forward-looking and to strive for improvements and change of the legislations. In practice they could even side-step the law. Among a number of things, my studies displays a case where the board chose to take on measurements that contradicted their own guiding rules