Forecasting Child-friendly Protection: A Composite Index of the European Union

Authors

Britanee E. Kane, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

International Crime and Justice

First Advisor's Name

Tim Goddard

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Besiki Kutateladze

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Rob Peacock

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Tatiana Kostadinova

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fifth Advisor's Name

Brittany Vandeberg Gilmer

Fifth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Keywords

child protection, child rights, composite index, child-friendly justice

Date of Defense

4-20-2023

Abstract

According to international policy, states hold primary responsibility in taking all appropriate measures to protect, prevent and respond to VAC. Rights-based approaches are often used to guide research in areas of child welfare, VAC, and more recently criminal justice interventions. The use of composite indices in research has been recognized as a beneficial tool in measuring country performance in various rights-related areas, including child welfare and protection. This study sought to understand how well countries in the European Union perform in achieving Child Friendly Protection through the construction of the Child Friendly Protection Index (CFPI) comprising of four critical domains: protection, prevention, response/intervention and justice. It was guided by two key research questions: (1) What factors explain variations in country performance within and across index domains? (2) What external factors, explain country performance in the CFPI framework? In terms of country CFPI performance, Sweden ranked the highest, with Spain closely behind. In contrast, Greece ranked the lowest in achieving child friendly protection. In addition, regression analysis concluded that countries with stronger rule of law would perform better in the CFPI framework.

Identifier

FIDC011146

ORCID

0009-0009-9428-6719

Recommended Citation

Kane, Britanee E., "Forecasting Child-friendly Protection: A Composite Index of the European Union" (2023). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5429.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/5429