Abstract
Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) provides children with the right to express their views in matters that affect them, particularly those of an administrative ...and judicial nature. This paper examines the academic discourse in child protection research concerning how Article 12 of the CRC is implemented and how it is manifested in child protection service (CPS) casework practices. The systematic review was performed following the principles of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) statement and included 16 peer‐reviewed articles published in English in academic journals from multiple scientific databases from January 2009 to January 2019 reporting primary research with children about their experiences of participation in CPS. Despite the widespread ratification of the CRC several decades ago, the studies in the current review establish a clear and predictable pattern of an inability of children to express themselves throughout CPS proceedings. Findings consistently indicate that children in different countries felt they were not being asked, listened to or heard, in some cases even regarding harmful and unsafe situations. We argue the academic discourse must move beyond these findings and discuss how research can contribute to dealing with these obstacles and improving practices by focussing on Article 12 in particular and human rights in general throughout CPS practices.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
This qualitative case study focuses on the child’s perspectives of their preschool provision. Examining how the child’s voice is recognised and facilitated within their Early Childhood Education and ...Care (ECEC). The 2017 Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the statutory framework which underpins early years practice, advocating for provision that is inclusive, child-centred and driven by the child’s best interests. However, increasing pressures on standards and results, has led to the escalation of formal practices and adult-initiated learning within early years provision, disrespecting and disregarding the child’s voice. This study highlights the tensions within the current framework, EYFS (2017) and supporting guidance document, Development Matters (2012). A multimodal methodology was applied to work collaboratively with the children and provide an insight into their views and experiences of preschool. Photo elicitation, semi-structured interviews and observations were the multimodal approaches selected to collect data with a group of children in a preschool. The main findings of this research imply the areas of provision that are most significant to the children are; play and imagination, friendships and socialisation, and the home environment and role models. Which question if the increasing formal practices, dominating current early years provision, respect and value the child’s voice.
Children's participation in legal proceedings affecting them personally has been gaining importance. So far, a primary research concern has been how children experience their participation in court ...proceedings. However, little is known about the child's voice itself: Are children able to clearly express their wishes, and if so, what do they say in child protection cases? In this study, we extracted information about children's statements from court file data of 220 child protection cases in Germany. We found 182 children were asked about their wishes. The majority of the statements found came either from reports of the guardians ad litem or from judicial records of the child hearings. Using content analysis, three main aspects of the statements were extracted: wishes concerning main place of residence, wishes about whom to have or not contact with, and children granting decision‐making authority to someone else. Children's main focus was on their parents, but others (e.g., relatives and foster care providers) were also mentioned. Intercoder agreement was substantial. Making sure that child hearings are as informative as possible is in the child's best interest. Therefore, the categories developed herein might help professionals to ask questions more precisely relevant to the child.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
For children with special educational needs, seeds were sown for the move away from segregated settings to inclusion in mainstream settings following the 1978 Warnock Report. However, the ‘special ...versus mainstream school’ debate was re‐ignited in 2005 when Warnock recommended a more significant role for special schools than previously envisaged. Furthermore, an increase in special school placement has been reported, prompting this investigation of the role of special schools in the current climate of inclusion. Literature from Britain, Europe and New Zealand, including research that listens to ‘the voice of the child’, which compares experiences of children with special educational needs in special and mainstream schools, is reviewed. The findings give no clear indication that either setting leads to better outcomes. Tensions between the inclusion agenda and standards agenda are highlighted. It is concluded that special schools in reduced numbers are likely to remain a feature of the inclusive education system, with recommendations for the development of special–mainstream school partnership links. The quality of the setting, regardless of the type of setting, is emphasised, highlighting implications for staff training in special and mainstream schools. Further research comparing outcomes for children educated in different types of provision is recommended.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Both the child protection and public child law systems assume a child-centred approach is at the heart of their work with children. That assumption is based on what are considered child-centred ...principles, which are enshrined in legislation in England and Wales in the Children Act 1989, mainly the principle of paramountcy of the child's welfare in Section 1(1) and the principle of no delay in Section 1(2), in relation to the completion of proceedings (
hm Government, 1989). However, comprehensive reviews of both the child protection system (Munro, 2011) and the family justice system (Family Justice Review Panel, 2011), along with research findings (Cappleman et al., 2013) present a picture that challenges this assumption. Increasingly, the focus on the child's life and welfare is hampered by a lack of time and resources available to professionals such as Guardians to enable them establish a meaningful and trusting relationship with the child in order to gain insight into and an understanding of the child's world from the child's perspective. The child appears to be very much on the periphery of a system that lacks real connectedness with the child and their view of their situation and circumstances. Such a level of connectedness can only be achieved by providing children with space and time to develop trust in and meaningful relationships with those whose duty it is to represent their true wishes and feelings and give due weight to the child's perspective.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, PRFLJ, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Contemporary Nordic early childhood education and care takes as its starting point the individual and ‘competent’ child and emphasizes the aim to take account of children’s views. It is also common ...in educational settings that the child’s views are documented and thus transformed into contexts in which they are discussed between the adults. In light of a case study of 22 parent–teacher meetings in Finnish early childhood education and care the article discusses the position of the child’s voice in this context. The theoretical framework is based on a relational view of childhood and the child’s voice, on theories of face-to-face and institutional interaction and on discursive psychology. The article highlights the multifaceted relational processes in which the child’s participation is embedded in adult-led institutional practices.
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NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
7.
Control of voice gender in pre-pubertal children Cartei, Valentina; Cowles, Wind; Banerjee, Robin ...
British journal of developmental psychology,
March 2014, Volume:
32, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Adult listeners are capable of identifying the gender of speakers as young as 4 years old from their voice. In the absence of a clear anatomical dimorphism in the dimensions of pre‐pubertal boys' and ...girls' vocal apparatus, the observed gender differences may reflect children's regulation of their vocal behaviour. A detailed acoustic analysis was conducted of the utterances of 34 6‐ to 9‐year‐old children, in their normal voices and also when asked explicitly to speak like a boy or a girl. Results showed statistically significant shifts in fundamental and formant frequency values towards those expected from the sex dimorphism in adult voices. Directions for future research on the role of vocal behaviours in pre‐pubertal children's expression of gender are considered.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Is it possible to bring the voice of children to the parenting coordination process without their involvement? And, if children 'are' involved, what are the considerations for safe and appropriate ...inclusion? Ninety-two parenting coordinators recently surveyed responded about their current practice and thoughts on child inclusion. Their comments, along with current trends in child-inclusive practice, and with the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts Guidelines for Parenting Coordination (2019), assisted in providing a guiding framework and a forum for discussion for the community of parenting coordinators.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, PRFLJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The 2011 census suggested that 244,000 young people in England and Wales under 19 provide unpaid care for someone with an illness or disability (Office for National Statistics, 2013). Young carers ...are not a homogeneous population; they represent children and young people from a variety of backgrounds with diverse experiences. Young carers are described as a ‘hidden population’ (H.M Government, 2010) hence the prevalence of young carers may be larger than data sources reveal. Previous research has identified negative aspects of caregiving and the impact on education, social, emotional, physical health and wellbeing. Young carers seem to be a vulnerable group and marginalised population, yet there is little reference to young carers in educational psychology literature. This research sought to listen to the voices of this hidden population from a strengths-based perspective to consider if this adds to our understanding of their resilience. The research adopted an inductive constructionist approach using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Six participants aged between 11 and 13 years were recruited from a large rural Young Carers Project to attend three separate interviews. Participants were caring for a parent with a mental illness. Findings illustrated these young carers had very individual and complex lives, full of tensions, yet they found ways of managing and adapting to their situations. Implications for raising the profile of individuals with complex lives are discussed and consideration given to a sensitive, individualised and flexible response.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Four-level Child-Centered Continuum Model (CCCM) framework - increasing the likelihood that children are included in mediation and alternative dispute resolution processes - focus on children as ...active participants in the family system rather than objects.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, PRFLJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
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