USD $153.00
Browse results
Author:
Abstract
In this paper I discuss an approach I have termed, “Child as method”, which I suggest provides some useful perspectives on child rights debates and concerns, specifically in connecting these with the realm of the geopolitical and, beyond that, insisting on how such connections deepens understanding of their significance. Building on previous work examining the relations and “translation” processes between global and local in the (re)formulation and implementation of child rights instruments, a conceptualisation of geopolitical context is presented as constitutive of the range of theories and practices surrounding child rights, and vice versa. The feminist and postcolonial conceptual resources informing Child as method are outlined, with examples offered of specific projects that have used this in child rights-related work. It is suggested that, far from diminishing the relevance and utility of Child as method, the non-child-centred assumptions underlying this approach might helpfully promote ways of working with and for children and young people, based on solidarity rather than, for example, the discretionary humanism structured within prevailing notions of recognition or identification.
Author:
Abstract
Child participation is considered crucial for the authorities’ ability to protect children from violence – yet children’s actual participation is limited, and participation and protection rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child are often understood as opposites. This article aims to explore children’s rights to participation and protection against violence in Swedish social services’ handling of violence against children. Child welfare reports, investigations and child social records, were analysed using quantitative content analysis and thematic analysis. Insufficient conditions for child participation and poor access to protection and support were indicated. Upon closer analysis of cases that did not lead to protection or support, different aspects of an overarching theme, The Protection Paradox, were identified, which meant protection against participation or unprotected autonomy.
Abstract
Millions of children live on the street or in inadequate housing. The failure of authorities to address these problems violates the right to adequate housing, as laid down in, inter alia, Art. 11(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (icescr). Yet, deplorable living conditions make children even more vulnerable than adults, given the negative impact on their development. This calls for a child-specific right to adequate housing tailored to the needs of children. Although one might expect to find such a child-specific right in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (crc), little is known about the crc and housing. This paper is the first to unravel to what extent the crc stipulates a child-specific right to adequate housing and, if so, whether it offers children other entitlements than the general right to adequate housing laid down in Art. 11(1) icescr.
Authors:
, , , , and
Abstract
Children’s invisibility, non-participation or limited participation can be associated with social workers’ experiences of losing focus of the child in their work, while at the same time navigating organisational and legal demands where a child perspective is strongly promoted. This article sheds light on social workers’ experiences of working with a child perspective and with children’s participation. Six in-depth interviews were conducted with professionals from social services and ngo s and from different child welfare services in Sweden. Our findings indicate that losing focus of the child is a common phenomenon that relates to the dominance of adult-centred practice and that child-centred methods need to be developed. Social workers from ngo s described having better opportunities for working in a child-centred way. Losing focus of the child mirrors the subordinated position of child-centred practice, proving that a child perspective and children’s participation are still inadequately anchored in social work practice.
Author:
Abstract
This paper focuses on the legal concept of inclusive education, and the challenges that its current interpretation raises, especially for autistic children. Centring on European and international law, it first analyses the sources and genesis of the current interpretation of inclusive education as full mainstream inclusion. It then proceeds critically to examine the conceptual and legal limitations this interpretation involves, before developing arguments for a more neurodiverse and rights-based alternative. Under this new interpretation, states would be required not only to render mainstream education more inclusive, but also to provide alternative educational offers for when mainstream education is not able to provide a neurodiverse and rights-based inclusive education.
Legal, Political and Ethical Challenges
How can human rights for children born outside their national jurisdiction with parents deemed as terrorists be safeguarded? In what ways do children risk being discriminated in their welfare rights in Sweden when treated as invisible part of a family? How can we do research on children’s rights in not just ethically sensitive ways but also with respect for children as rights subjects? And what could be a theory on social justice for children? These are questions discussed in studies from different disciplines concerning children’s international human rights, with a special focus on the realization of the CRC in Sweden.
Legal, Political and Ethical Challenges
How can human rights for children born outside their national jurisdiction with parents deemed as terrorists be safeguarded? In what ways do children risk being discriminated in their welfare rights in Sweden when treated as invisible part of a family? How can we do research on children’s rights in not just ethically sensitive ways but also with respect for children as rights subjects? And what could be a theory on social justice for children? These are questions discussed in studies from different disciplines concerning children’s international human rights, with a special focus on the realization of the CRC in Sweden.
Abstract
Child rights research has increased since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (crc) in 1989. Reviews of the research has indicated a lack of criticality and a reluctance to interrogate or challenge dominant views. Some scholars argue that this results from under theorisation, whereas other maintain that theorisation is abundant. The paradox suggesting that children’s rights research can be both abundant and deficient in theory calls for a thorough discussion about theorisation. This systematic review engages in this debate by exploring what is positioned as “theory” in educational children’s rights research, and what function theory has. Analysis determined that alignment with established theoretical approaches is uncommon. Previous research literature is instead often positioned as theory, mostly in combination with policy, law or an established theory. Main functions of theory are to construct the object of study and to provide analysis support. Some uses of theory appear to be more powerful than others.
Author:
Abstract
The CRC is said to be read as a whole, but each article might be scrutinized separately to see in what ways it generates important matters for fulfilling children’s rights. In this chapter I suggest that the interpretation of Article 31 – the child’s right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities, and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts – can go further than the CRC Committee (2013), which stresses the importance of the article by referring to the child’s development, socialization and learning for the future. Using the concepts of epistemic justice and encounters, the right to arts and cultural life is here discussed as rights that cannot fully be defined by only the duty-bearers. To accomplish the imperatives of Article 31, it is crucial to involve children’s own thoughts of what is meaningful and important: what is challenging, or enchanting, has to be understood from the perspective of the experiencing person. If the child is seen as an agent, co-constructing the social world, the right to cultural life and to arts opens up for accentuating the similarities between children and adults, both sharing curiosity and moments of “wonder-at-the-world” (Bennett, 2001).
Abstract
Combating poverty has been a central aspect in the building of the Swedish welfare state and the focus today is on different types of support to families with children. Both the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and other legal instruments clearly state that a child has the right to an adequate standard of living. Despite this, and the fact that Sweden is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, child poverty is still a problem. Against this background it is natural to pose questions of what a child’s right to an adequate standard of living actually means, and whether there are legal explanations for why these rights are not realized and fulfilled in Sweden today. In this chapter children’s right to adequate standard of living and the regulations for the outermost social safety net are analyzed from a critical legal perspective. The objective is to highlight underlying assumptions and conditions that limit the possibilities to effect children’s rights, and which might even give rise to a silent acceptance of the fact that certain children are poor in one of the world’s richest countries. The analysis demonstrates challenging aspects in both the CRC and the Swedish national legal regulations that may be contributing to child poverty in Sweden today. The regulations create layers of problematic basic assumptions and conditions that risk rendering invisible children’s specific needs and rights. This occurs first with the premise that children’s rights are primarily invoked by the parents, who must apply for and accept economic support, but also distribute the resources received in a manner that benefits their children. A second problematic layer is the fact that support can be made conditional through certain requirements imposed on the parents that can be both unreasonable and disproportional from a child perspective. There are no self-evident solutions to the identified problems, but one thing is certain – the current legal structures do not create reasonable and equal living conditions for all children in Sweden today and there is a need for clarifications on what the right to an adequate standard of living for children are supposed to mean in Sweden today.
Author:
Abstract
The concept of childism is, in this chapter, used primarily as a theoretical approach to analyse adult resistance against the realisation of children’s rights. Childism can help us to understand children’s exposure to negative prejudices, attitudes and discriminatory structures in society. This chapter argues, that in order to address discrimination against children on a systemic level, a critical approach in child rights studies on negative beliefs against children is needed to illuminate prejudice ingrained in the ways in which policies and laws are formulated on a structural level. By studying discourses that lead to abuse of children we may better understand underlying reasons to the challenges facing a respect for children’s rights internationally. Reasons and arguments given for why children are denied basic rights and freedoms can be systematically examined over time by addressing how adult’s prejudice about children lead to age-based discrimination against children. These intersectional understandings of subordination may inform affirmative policy needed for realising the rights of the child. The chapter calls for further empirical studies that interrelate violations of children’s rights with different overlapping forms of prejudice and discrimination against children.