The Criterion of Welfare in Child Discipline and the Examination of Liability Arising from Discipline
Keywords:
The child's best interest, child discipline, the guarantee resulting from discipline, the index of expediencyAbstract
The right to upbringing is considered one of the most fundamental rights of the child—a right whose realization depends on healthy, balanced, and appropriate education that meets the child’s physical, psychological, and emotional needs. The purpose of such upbringing is the flourishing of human potential and the attainment of the lofty ends envisioned by the Divine Lawgiver for humankind. Among the various instruments of upbringing, discipline constitutes a crucial yet delicate responsibility entrusted to parents. However, the authority to discipline is not absolute; rather, it is bound by rules, criteria, and conditions that ensure its legitimacy. One of the most significant among these is the criterion of observing the child’s welfare in the disciplinary process. Any form of punishment or discipline that exceeds the limits of reason and religious law, or that is motivated by anger, revenge, or ill will—thereby endangering the child’s higher interests—lacks legitimacy and renders the disciplining party liable. Accordingly, the welfare criterion occupies a fundamental position in legitimizing parental disciplinary actions, and adherence to it is a necessary condition for the disciplinarian to be absolved of liability. In the present study, using a documentary–library method and within a descriptive–analytical framework based on content analysis, the foundational concepts of “criterion,” “welfare,” “discipline,” and “punishment” are examined in both linguistic and jurisprudential–legal contexts. Subsequently, by employing authoritative sources in Imami jurisprudence and legal texts, the formal and substantive indicators and standards for assessing the child’s welfare in matters of discipline and punishment are derived. Due to their general and comprehensive nature, these indicators may be applied to various child-related legal issues, including the topic under discussion. Finally, the study proposes a framework for identifying the greater welfare (“maslahat aham”) based on religious and jurisprudential foundations, which may serve as a legal and jurisprudential basis for evaluating the legitimacy of disciplinary actions and resolving related liabilities.
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