Judicial bias in adjudicating the adoption of minors in Israel

The decision-making process of professionals involved in child placement is prone to judgmental bias, since there is no consensual model for evaluating the key concepts of “child's best interests” and “parental capability.” Several hypotheses regarding judicial bias were assumed, with emphasis on the social marginalization of the parents (operationally measured by three indicators: parents' lack of economic means, parents' social deviance, and a family history of previous adoptions and/or out-of-home placement) affecting the judge's perception of parental dangerousness, the adoption decision and its legal reasoning. Findings from a sample of 231 court decisions of compulsory adoption indicated that operational measurements of “social marginalization of the parents” were correlated and could predict the judge's perception of parental dangerousness, his decision of compulsory adoption and his reference to family rights. The legal disadvantage of socially marginalized parents was discussed from various perspectives.