Parents are generally granted authority over children that adults could not be subject to.  That authority, the reciprocal obligations it inspires and who may act as a parent are generally treated under a rubric of family law.

These issues include:

Establishing parental rights,

Custody and Support of children and

Rights of children to resist or be independent of paretntal authority

IICLE's are publications from the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education.  They provide explanation of the law for a practitioner audience.  It contains practical guidelines and references to cases and statutes.  IICLE's can be viewed online but only from computers with hardwired connections in the College of Law.

There are many journals on topics in family law.  Perusing the tables of contents of some of these journals may help inform your choice of paper topic.