International Perspectives And Empirical Findings On Child Participation

Providing a broad portrayal of how child participation is implemented in practice today, this volume brings together prominent authors from the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and Israel, to present descriptions of innovative programmes that engage children and youth in decision-making processes, as well as insightful findings regarding what children, their families and professionals think about these programmes. Beyond its contribution to the empirical evidence on the ways in which children engage in decision-making processes, it also contributes to the theoretical development of the meaning of 'participation', 'citizenship', 'inclusiveness' and 'relational rights' in regards to children and youth.

Providing a broad portrayal of how child participation is implemented in practice today, this volume brings together prominent authors from the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and Israel, to present descriptions of innovative programmes that engage children and youth in decision-making processes, as well as insightful findings regarding what children, their families and professionals think about these programmes. Beyond its contribution to the empirical evidence on the ways in which children engage in decision-making processes, it also contributes to the theoretical development of the meaning of 'participation', 'citizenship', 'inclusiveness' and 'relational rights' in regards to children and youth.

The 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has inspired advocates and policy makers across the globe, injecting children's rights terminology into various public and private arenas. Children's right to participate in decision-making processes affecting their lives is the acme of the Convention and its central contribution to the children's rights discourse. At the same time the participation right presents enormous challenges in its implementation. Laws, regulations and mechanisms addressing children's right to participate in decision-making processes affecting their lives have been established in many jurisdictions across the globe. Yet these worldwide developments have only rarely been accompanied with empirical investigations. The effectiveness of various policies in achieving meaningful participation for children of different ages, cultures and circumstances have remained largely unproven empirically. Therefore, with the growing awareness of the importance of evidence-based policies, it becomes clear that without empirical investigations on the implementation of children's right to participation it is difficult to promote their effective inclusion in decision making. This book provides a much-needed, first broad portrayal of how child participation is implemented in practice today. Bringing together 19 chapters written by prominent authors from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, and Israel, the book includes descriptions of programs that engage children and youth in decision-making processes, as well as insightful findings regarding what children, their families, and professionals think about these programs. Beyond their contribution to the empirical evidence on ways children engage in decision-making processes, the volume's chapters contribute to the theoretical development of the meaning of "participation," "citizenship," "inclusiveness," and "relational rights" in regards to children and youth. There is no matching to the book's scope both in terms of its breadth of subjects and the diversity of jurisdictions it covers. The book's chapters include experiences of child participation in special education, child protection, juvenile justice, restorative justice, family disputes, research, and policy making.

A Handbook of Children and Young People’s Participation brings together key thinkers and practitioners from diverse contexts across the globe to provide an authoritative overview of contemporary theory and practice around children’s participation. Promoting the participation of children and young people - in decision-making and policy development, and as active contributors to everyday family and community life - has become a central part of policy and programme initiatives in both majority and minority worlds. This book presents the most useful recent work in children’s participation as a resource for academics, students and practitioners in childhood studies, children’s rights and welfare, child and family social work, youth and community work, governance, aid and development programmes. The book introduces key concepts and debates, and presents a rich collection of accounts of the diverse ways in which children’s participation is understood and enacted around the world, interspersed with reflective commentaries from adults and young people. It concludes with a number of substantial theoretical contributions that aim to take forward our understanding of children’s participation. The emphasis throughout the text is on learning from the complexity of children’s participation in practice to improve our theoretical understanding, and on using those theoretical insights to challenge practice, with the aim of realising children’s rights and citizenship more fully.

"The discussion in this book take into account the need for not only focusing on individual perspectives and practices but also examining the social structures that impact on children's rights. It provides a nuanced discussion in relation to the academic debates in the field, but also extends its scope by providing a powerful illustration of how collaboration between academics and practitioners can advance knowledge and impact on practices." Dr Nidhi Singal, University of Cambridge. International Perspectives on Practice and Research into Children's Rights is intended as a facilitator of cross-border conversations between practitioners, researchers and policy-makers working in the broader field of education and children's rights. The volume is co-edited by Dr Gabriela Martinez Sainz (Centre for Human Rights Studies) and Dr Sonia Ilie (University of Cambridge). It brings together contributions that provide relevant examples of research and practices combining critical and theoretical explorations and empirical evidence about children's rights, addressing issues such as access to education, inequality, violence, corporal punishment and child participation.

Young people’s participation is an urgent policy and practice concern across countries and context. This book showcases original research evidence and analysis to consider how, under what conditions and for what purposes young people participate in different parts of Europe. Focusing on the interplay between the concepts of youth, inequality and participation, this book explores how structural changes, including economic austerity, neoliberal policies and new patterns of migration, affect the conditions of young people’s participation and its aims. With contributions from a range of subject experts, including young people themselves, the book challenges current policies and practices on young people’s participation. It asks how young people can be better supported to take part in social change and decision-making and what can be learnt from young people’s own initiatives.

Thirty years after the adoption of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, this book provides diverse perspectives from countries and regions across the globe on its implementation, critique and potential for reform. The book revolves around key issues including progress in implementing the CRC worldwide; how to include children in legal proceedings; how to uphold children’s various civil rights; how to best assist children at risk; and discussions surrounding children’s identity rights in a changing familial order. Discussion of the CRC is both compelling and polarizing and the book portrays the enthusiasm around these topics through contrasting and comparative opinions on a range of topics. The work provides varying perspectives from many different countries and regions, offering a wealth of insight on topics that will be of significant interest to scholars and practitioners working in the areas of children’s rights and justice.

The collection aims to inspire readers with new approaches to implementing and monitoring the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to make rights ‘real’ in children’s lives. Children’s human rights are internationally recognised in the legally binding international treaty—the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most ratified of all human rights treaties. Although measures are increasingly being taken to implement the Convention at a national level, more needs to be done to ensure that children’s rights are recognised and supported in their daily lives. This collection brings together the latest research on new approaches to embedding children’s rights into national law and policies, with contributions from academics, practitioners and importantly young activists, from the UK and beyond. This book will be of interest to all human rights advocates, particularly policy makers and practitioners looking for new ways in which to make children’s rights real. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of The International Journal of Human Rights.