Children have a right to participate in decisions that affect them, and their participation can have positive effects such as increased self-esteem and confidence, as well as improving decisions made by professionals working with them. The right children have to be heard is high on the public agenda, but there are still debates over how and when they can be involved, what form their participation should take and organisational cultures that facilitate this.Children and Participation addresses these questions and the nature of children's participation in the social care field. The author discusses the reality of the world in which children live and outlines definitions of participation and current initiatives for children's involvement. Four research studies on children's participation in the UK are then presented, based on interviews with children aged 6--19. They cover children's views on decision-making and recording processes, their opinions on the social work help they have received, whether they feel their views have been taken into account, and the responses of the agencies involved.This book will be essential reading for any social work or social care professional working with children, as well as students and academics in the social work and social care fields. It will also be invaluable to those involved in promoting children's rights and child participation.Practitioners in social work and social care who work with children; undergraduate, postgraduate and post-qualifying social work students and academics; those involved in promoting children's rights and child participation.
Series editor's foreword. Mary John, University of Exeter, UK. Introduction. Part 1. 1. What is Participation? Definitions, Arenas and Outcomes. 2. What is Participation? Different Methods. 3. The Policy and Background to Participatory Practice. 4. The Theoretical Underpinnings of Participatory Practice. 5. What Gets in the Way? Adult Attitudes, the World in Which Children Live and Organisational Culture and Values. Part 2. Introduction: Research Studies on Children's Experiences of Participation. 6. The Involvement of Children in Family Group Conferences. 7. The Participation of Children in Initial Child Protection Investigations. 8. The Participation of Children in Social Work Electronic Records. 9. Children's Views on their Involvement in Service Evaluation and Design: the RUBeing Heard Project. 10. Implications for Practice. 11. Conclusion. References. Author Index. Subject Index.
