ABSTRACT This article explores the challenges and benefits of increased legal representation in child welfare hearings, with reference to the Scottish Children’s Hearings System. We look at the role and impact of adversarial behaviours within legal environments intended to follow an informal, collaborative approach. We analyse the views of 66 individuals involved in the Hearings System, including reporters, social workers, panel members and lawyers, collected through four focus groups and 12 interviews held in 2015. We place this analysis in the context of previous research. Our findings identify concern about adversarialism, inter-professional tensions and various challenges associated with burgeoning legal representation. Difficulties stem from disparate professional values and perceived threats to the ethos of hearings. We conclude it is difficult, but possible, to incorporate an adversarial element into such forums. Doing so may help to protect rights and potentially improve decision-making for children and families. The article concludes by considering implications for the practice of lawyers and others.

中文翻译：

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非正式、协作和“软”审讯环境中的对抗：儿童福利法律环境中的律师角色

摘要 本文参考苏格兰儿童听证会系统，探讨了在儿童福利听证会上增加法律代表的挑战和好处。我们研究了旨在遵循非正式协作方法的法律环境中对抗性行为的作用和影响。我们分析了 2015 年通过四个焦点小组和 12 次访谈收集的 66 名参与听证系统的个人的意见，包括记者、社会工作者、小组成员和律师。我们将此分析置于先前研究的背景下。我们的研究结果确定了对对抗主义、跨专业紧张局势以及与新兴法律代理相关的各种挑战的担忧。困难源于不同的专业价值观和对听证会精神的感知威胁。我们得出的结论是，将对抗性元素纳入此类论坛是困难的，但也是可能的。这样做可能有助于保护权利并可能改善儿童和家庭的决策。文章最后考虑了对律师和其他人的实践的影响。