Parental obligations are the obligations acquired by parents to their young children. It is believed that parents have special obligations to their children. However, what are the contents of such obligations? Are parental obligations limited to meeting children’s basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter? Do parents have an obligation to best promote children’s welfare? What are the requirements of the children’s right to an open future? And is it possible for parents to meet such requirements? In this article, I try to address these issues by appealing to a philosophical view of parental obligation, according to which parental obligations require parents to ensure their children have a reasonable expectation of a decent life. Thus, parents are obligated to protect their children from abuse and neglect, help their children to become autonomous agents and provide their children with an adequate moral education. In addition, although the children’s right to an open future imposes given obligations on parents, it does not indicate that parents are obligated to expose children to as many activities and much experience as possible. Such an understanding of the children’s right to an open future is incorrect.
Alessandri, S. M. (1991). Play and Social Behavior in Maltreated Preschoolers. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 191-206. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095457940000523X
Archard, D. (2004). Wrongful Life. Philosophy, 79, 403-420. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031819104000348
Assembly, U. G. (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child. United Nations, Treaty Series, 1577, 1-23.
Austin, M. W. (2016). Conceptions of Parenthood: Ethics and the Family. Ashgate Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315573274
Blustein, J. (1982). Parents and Children: The Ethics of the Family. Oxford University Press.
Butchart, A. (2006). Preventing Child Maltreatment: A Guide to Taking Action and Generating Evidence. World Health Organization.
Carter, R. E. (1984). Dimensions of Moral Education. University of Toronto Press.
Christman, J. (2008). Autonomy in Moral and Political Philosophy. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Coster, W. J., Gersten, M. S., Marjorie, B., & Dante, C. (1989). Communicative Functioning in Maltreated Toddlers. Developmental Psychology, 25, 1020-1029. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.25.6.1020
Cowen, P. S. (1999). Child Neglect: Injuries of Omission. Pediatric Nursing Journal, 25, 401-405, 409-418.
Crosson-Tower, C. (1999). Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect. Allyn and Bacon.
De Bellis, M. D., Baum, A. S., Birmaher, B., Keshavan, M. S., Eccard, C. H., Boring, A. M., Ryan, N. D., et al. (1999). Developmental Traumatology Part I: Biological Stress Systems. Biological Psychiatry, 45, 1259-1270. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3223(99)00044-X
Dodge, K., Bates, J., & Pettit, G. (1990). Mechanisms in the Cycle of Violence. Science, 250, 1678-1683. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.2270481
Downey, M., & Kelly, A. V. (1979). Moral Education: Theory and Practice. Harper & Row Publisher.
Dubowitz, H. (1999). Handbook for Child Protection Practice. Sage Publications.
Dworkin, G. (1988). The Theory and Practice of Autonomy. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511625206
Feinberg, J. (1986). Harm to Self. The Moral Limits of the Criminal Law. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/0195046641.001.0001
Feinberg, J. (2007). Philosophy of Education: An Anthology. Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L. J., & Lynskey, M. T. (1996). Childhood Sexual Abuse and Psychiatric Disorder in Young Adulthood: II. Psychiatric Outcomes of Childhood Sexual Abuse. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 35, 1365-1374. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199610000-00024
Galdston, R. (1971). Violence Begins at Home: The Parents’ Center Project for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 10, 336-350. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0002-7138(09)61741-6
Garbarino, J. (1991). Not All Bad Developmental Outcomes Are the Result of Child Abuse. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 45-50. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579400005071
Gibb, F. (2014). Judge Rules Jehovah’s Witness Child Must Have Blood Transfusion. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/judge-rules-jehovahs-witness-child-must-have-blood-transfusion-n2pd3b73lwz
Hursthouse, R., & Pettigrove, G. (2016). Virtue Ethics. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Katz, K. B. (1992). Communication Problems in Maltreated Children: A Tutorial. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 14, 147-163. https://doi.org/10.1177/152574019201400204
Korbin, J. E. (1980). The Cultural Context of Child Abuse and Neglect. Child Abuse & Neglect, 4, 3-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/0145-2134(80)90028-9
Lafollette, H. (1980). Licensing Parents. Philosophy & Public Affairs, 9, 182-197.
Macledo, C. (2007). Taking Responsibility for Children. Wilfrid Laurier Univ Press.
Mills, C. (2003). The Child’s Right to an Open Future? Journal of Social Philosophy, 34, 499-509. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9833.00197
Millum, J. (2008). How Do We Acquire Parental Responsibilities? Social Theory and Practice, 34, 71-93. https://doi.org/10.5840/soctheorpract20083414
Mnookin, R. (1973). Foster Care—In Whose Best Interest? Harvard Educational Review, 43, 599-638. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.43.4.unm6691p3u1n450v
Morse, C. W., Sahler, O. J. Z., & Friedman, S. B. (1970). A Three-Year Follow-Up Study of Abused and Neglected Children. American Journal of Diseases of Children, 120, 439-446. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpedi.1970.02100100103011
Narveson, J. (2007). Taking Responsibility for Children. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press.
O’Neill, O. (1979). Having Children: Philosophical and Legal Reflections on Parenthood. Oxford University Press.
Perry, B. D. (1997). Incubated in Terror: Neurodevelopmental Factors in the “Cycle of Violence”. In J. D. Osofsky (Ed.), Children in a Violent Society (pp. 124-149). The Guilford Press.
Prior, W. J. (2001). Eudaimonism and Virtue. The Journal of Value Inquiry, 35, 325-342. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011817613103
Runyan, D., Wattam, C., Ikeda, R., Hassan, F., & Ramiro, L. (2002). World Report on Violence and Health. World Health Organization.
Steinbock, B. (2009). Harming Future Persons: Ethics, Genetics and the Nonidentity Problem. Springer Science & Business Media.