1、 Adult Guardianship System in the Czech Republic in Comparison with Selected European Union Countries Adult Guardianship System in the Czech Republic in Comparison with Selected European Union Countries. In ageing societies, questions of participation of elderly people in social life and the possibi
2、lities of a self-determined life in old age are of high importance. The state increasingly is confronted with the task of protecting personal rights of older and incompetent persons. In various societies, the way of protection ranges from paternalistic interventions to approaches stressing autonomy
3、and support of those persons. The article is concerned with the phenomenon of guardianship of incompetent elderly (i.e. persons over 60 years of age) in the Czech Republic. It is based on the international project Advocacies for Frail and Incompetent Elderly in Europe (ADEL) aimed at comparing adult
4、 guardianship systems in five European countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany and Spain).The findings inspired a national study a part of which is presented in the article. The essential aims of the national study were: (a) to identify socio-demographic and epidemiologic data on incomp
5、etent elderly； (b) to identify socio-demographic data on their guardians. The method was study of documents (court records) and the data collection technique was content analysis. The first and second parts outline the theoretical and methodological framework of guardianship. The third part presents
6、 research results. The final part compares the empirical reality in the Czech Republic and selected EU countries participating in the ADEL project. Sociologic 2011, Vol. 43 (No. 3: 266-285) Key words: adult guardianship system； autonomy； Espying-Andersens welfare state typology； incompetent elderly；
7、 guardian； data on guardianship. Introduction Guardianship is a legal relationship established by a court process between an adult who is deemed to lack the requisite legal capacity to make personal decisions and the person appointed to make decisions on that adults behalf (MDAC 2007: 10) The term “
8、guardianship” was similarly defined by Taster et al. 2005； Wood 2006； or Moye et al. 2007. While adult guardianship by definition is not only about the elderly, there is strong empirical evidence suggesting that the subjects in the vast majority of guardianship cases in fact are elderly persons (Don
9、or 2003: 131), i.e. persons over 65 years of age (Wood 2006； OSullivan Hoffmann 1996； Eckert Schaeffer 2010). Generally, the phenomenon of guardianship may be understood as acts (and thinking) on behalf of someone else with consent from society. It is a social institution concerned with protecting p
10、ersons found unable (incompetent) to make decisions about their matters by the society. It is based on the premise that to act and make decisions, incompetent individuals need help from either other persons or institutions considered suitable for the protection based on social (mostly legal) decisio
11、ns. The form of this institution results from societys attitude to mentally handicapped people which changed throughout the last century. There was a shift from a caring approach (the so-called paternalistic approach) to an approach stressing autonomy and support for these persons.(Malenkov Matiako
12、2010). In international law, the change was reflected by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted by the UN5. The Convention, different values and varied practical approaches to adult guardianship in different EU countries were used as a methodological framework for the inte
13、rnational project Advocacies for Frail and Incompetent Elderly in Europe (ADEL)6 which this article is based on. The ADEL project is a comparative study in five European countries (Austria, the Czech Republic Denmark, Germany and Spain) that describes the current system of protection of frail and in
14、competent elderly. The countries were chosen according to Espying-Andersens welfare state typology (Espying-Andersen 1990). The project concluded that differences in the institutions of guardianship in the selected countries are essentially influenced by legal tradition/system of guardianship and we
15、lfare regime. In countries with a conservative type of welfare regime (Austria, Germany, Spain), a paternalistic (state, public, family) approach to incompetent elderly prevails. On the other hand, an approach respecting autonomy of incompetent elderly is typical for a social democratic type of welf
16、are regime (Denmark). The Czech Republic was labeled as representing a transitional, ambivalent type (Keller Pilgrims 2010). This conclusion was evidenced not only by comparison of demographic situations and legal systems of the participating countries, their key documents and case studies of “typic
17、al” incompetent persons but also by interviews with experts in adult guardianship. In the Czech Republic, the interviews were characterized by apparently varied opinions on approaches to protection of incompetent elderly as expressed by both experts on ethical, legal and medical issues related to in
18、competent elderly and policy-makers responsible for this area (patenkov Oleck Ivanov 2011). In addition, the ADEL study showed that the Czech Republic lacks relevant data necessary for making key decisions such as the further development of adult guardianship (socio-demographic data on wards and gua
19、rdians, conditions of private and public guardians, data from geriatric psychiatric facilities etc.). Court statistics only show that the numbers of incompetent persons are increasing (Ministry of Justice of the Czech Republic 2011). Thus, it may be stated that the lack of detailed analyses concerni
20、ng incompetent elderly and their guardians is a serious problem. The essential aims of a national study in the Czech Republic were: (a) to identify socio-demographic and epidemiologic data on incompetent elderly (that is persons aged 60 and more)； (b) to identify socio-demographic data on their guar
21、dians. The method was study of documents (court records) and the data collection technique was content analysis. The following hypotheses were formulated: Hypothesis 1:The number of incompetent persons in the age category over 60 years increased between 2006 and 2008. Hypothesis 2: There are more females than males in the over-60 age category. Hypothesis 3: In the over-60 age group, the most frequent reason for deprivation of legal capacity is dementia. Hypothesis 4: In most cases, the guardians for incompetent persons over 60 years
