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This paper calls for greater attention to the interpersonal aspects of youth activism through a sociological and Black feminist exploration of peer relationships within youth political engagement. Drawing on a multi‐method qualitative research, the work foregrounds the perspectives and experiences of Black girls and girls of colour involved in an anti‐racist Scottish youth work charity. I argue that community and friendship ties cultivated participants' activism. Moreover, participants sought to enact social change by undertaking activist educational practices with their peers. This paper demonstrates how studying young people's peer relationships can engender a better understanding of youth activism and support it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how research advisory groups can be a vehicle for youth activism. It draws on our experiences with young activists, aged 15–26 years, in India and Brazil, who were advisors on a research project focused on youth livelihoods in cities. These young people played a vital role in supporting youth researchers, identifying research themes and developing engagement and advocacy strategies. Through this paper, we explore how the Youth Expert Group advisory model evolved differently in each location and examine how these were shaped by the context, the 'adult' research team and the youth activists themselves. A critically reflexive response in intergenerational partnership is essential to support youth activists in research activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents research into communication pathways between young people and political decision‐makers. The aim of the study was to give young people a platform to challenge how they are perceived in urban public space. Using innovative creative mapping methods, a group of teenagers shared insights into their everyday experiences of their urban neighbourhood with elected political representatives. This paper argues that the perception of young people within the political establishment inhibits engagement and change, but that the participation process is an important step towards reframing perceptions and affecting change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by new feminist materialism, this paper seeks to reimagine existing knowledge of girls, sexuality and playgrounds by considering how the socio‐material reality may unlock girls' capacities for what is possible through play. Focusing on semi‐structured interviews of girls (aged 12–13), the paper draws attention to the playground as an 'assemblage' of human and non‐human matter that connect to illuminate other ways of being, feeling and doing. We argue that the assemblage not only creates spaces for girls to disrupt hetero‐patriarchal ideologies but simultaneously serves to reinforce them. Interventions require attention to the oppressive materialities that underpin play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore how children's achieving privacy is interwoven with parental recognition of their agency, by providing empirical accounts of family lives in Türkiye. Building on a relational understanding of agency and privacy, it debates both concepts as social constructs that can be distinctively understood in western and Turkish cultures. It employs ethnographic research with children aged 10–14 years and their families to illustrate everyday contexts of parental privacy invasions and children's exercise of relational agency in response. A relational approach towards achieving agency and privacy as an interlaced process mirrors children's experience of power asymmetries within family relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines children's opportunities to participate in everyday child–parent conflicts as revealed in young boys' fictional narratives. The data were collected from 19 boys aged 3–6 years using the Story Magician's Play Time method. Narrative analysis yielded four story types: ignored participation stories, parent‐directed participation stories, child‐directed participation stories and dialogical participation stories. The study illustrates that when considering children's participation in child–parent conflicts, differences between children in their opportunities to participate in resolving conflicts should be taken into account. The boys' stories draw attention to the importance of children's right to a voice and influence in child–parent conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's right to participate has been one of the most challenging rights to implement due to dominant norms which position children under adults' authority. Notably, this has more negatively impacted girls than boys due to traditional gender norms and practices that often restrict girls' agency and are reproduced and unchallenged in many societies. To contest these struggles, young female activists (13–17 years) in Sierra Leone, who are the focus of this paper, engaged in direct actions to influence public decision‐making and prevent girls from being married during childhood. Drawing upon empirical evidence exploring the girls' activism experiences, this article explore, young female activists' practical work is an example of what intersectionality as praxis means by connecting social categories to inequalities and highlights that they saw themselves as social actors with the ability to negotiate power, take part in community‐based activism to end child marriage and network with others to seek justice for practices and attitudes they perceived to be abusive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The political sphere is typically reserved for adults in contemporary nation‐states, leaving limited opportunities for children's participation in democratic processes. This holds even more true for unaccompanied asylum‐seeking children who are politically unrepresented and often find themselves in a precarious position due to their immigrant status. The article aims to overcome this gap by presenting their experiences of Slovenian reception and asylum procedures as a framework for child‐informed policy. The child‐centred approach as presented in this paper starts from the principles of children's rights, particularly from the right to express views (Article 12 of the CRC) and the use of children's viewpoints as a way of interpreting how reception and asylum procedures should be. In this way, the paper highlights key factors that affect unaccompanied asylum‐seeking children's well‐being and participation rights, including being able to stay with family and friends, having adequate material conditions, having good relationships with institutional staff, having access to information and legal advice, having trained interviewers, translators and decision‐makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Framed by Urie Bronfenbrenners' (1979) ecological systems theory, this paper analyses the contextual factors that facilitate commercial sex work among adolescent girls in a metropolis in Ghana. Focusing on contextual factors rather than individual perspectives, we examined the background of minors involved in sex trade by interviewing 15 juvenile prostitutes (aged 14–17) and several key stakeholders. We explored factors that cause them to engage in prostitution, such as dysfunctional family systems, peer and sibling influence, inadequate accommodation, media influence and fashionable trends, as well as poverty and survival dynamics. An innovative discovery presented in this paper is the strong presence of schools, and resultant young people, as well as tourist attractions and cultural celebrations such as festivals and funerals as drivers of juvenile prostitution in the study site. The paper concludes by recommending a multi‐sectoral approach to addressing juvenile prostitution challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examined relationships between area‐level deprivation, local authorities' social care expenditure and the rates of children entering care proceedings in England using a novel data linkage of de‐identified records provided by the Children and Family Court Advisory Service (Cafcass). Using structural equation modelling, the authors found strong positive relationships between socioeconomic area deprivation and high rates of children undergoing care proceedings in England between 2015 and 2019. Preventative social care expenditure is associated with lower child rates when adjusting for deprivation. Our findings suggest that deprived and underfunded local authorities respond to an increased need by prioritizing care arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is a crucial intervention because of its long‐term impact on child development. However, information concerning the effectiveness of the ECEC in developing countries like India is sparsely available. This empirical study drew upon primary data collected from India's eastern state, West Bengal and investigated whether attending preschool contributed to children's cognitive and social skill development. The study found that attending preschool did not provide dividends in the form of cognitive and social skill accumulation. Furthermore, attending private preschool was associated with socioemotional development but no cognitive development. Moreover, parents' education seems to be a strong predictor for child's development. Given the findings of this paper, preschools in India, both in the public and private sectors, would need considerable quality improvement to deliver developmentally appropriate ECEC to children. It is particularly relevant in the context of the new National Education Policy in India, which emphasises the need to provide universal access to high‐quality ECCE to all young children across the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children entering secure accommodation, also known as 'secure care', are prevented from exercising free choice over most aspects of everyday life. This paper focuses on the relationship between agency and violence during transference to and early time in secure accommodation. Sharing interview extracts from 11 young people with experience of secure care as children, we explore how the routine processes of 'suppressing' children's agency supports the emergence of violence. We argue that the manner of transfer to secure accommodation creates a violent encounter that forces children's emotion and agency to redirect and intensify onto the self and others as further violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the right of children to be involved in decisions that concern them has been widely recognised, they are currently barely involved in guideline development in healthcare. This paper aims to explore what a future guideline development system in which children are meaningfully involved might look like and to reflect on the transition required to achieve this. We used a systems innovation perspective, exploring child participation within its systemic context and complexity. To this end, we conducted 24 interviews with various actors, about their ideas on and experiences with child participation in guideline development in the Dutch system (between August 2018 and September 2020), complemented with a scoping review. The current system is characterised by a high‐speed, rigid process that relies heavily on scientific evidence. Children are usually not included or taken seriously. The contours of a system in which children are meaningfully involved would differ markedly: children would be considered capable and taken seriously, and the guideline development process would be flexible, with time for interaction with children and discussion about the implications of their perspectives. We encountered few examples of child participation in guideline development worldwide, and believe our results are indicative of the situation in other Western countries. We propose the following actions: (1) Development of a discussion arena to create a joint vision on the aim of guideline development and subsequently the role of child participation therein. (2) Set up of transition experiments unbound by the current constellation, conducted by front‐runners who are open to children's perspectives. These are essential to clarify pathways towards a future in which the voices of children are meaningfully integrated. It remains to be seen, however, whether there are sufficient actors who feel the necessary urgency for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a new child‐centred methodology that explores children's visions of their futures, encourages self‐reflection and depth and shares children's voices with peers and researchers, as unbrokered as possible. This final stage of a longitudinal, arts‐based, social science‐informed project was delivered by partnering with schools in socially disadvantaged areas of Bristol, a UK city. Our two‐phase activity used a Tree metaphor to explore children's hopes, ambitions and support, looking forward to recovery from the COVID‐19 pandemic. The analysis combined multi‐disciplinary thematic and visual‐narrative analysis, and revealed diversity, intersection and individuality in themes that scaled out from the child and their family over different timescales. Themes included emotion (concerns; empathy), experiences (happenings, resources skills; aspirations) and relationships, linked to their recent experiences of COVID‐19 mitigation. The paper reflects critically on children's and researchers' positionality, and the complexities involved in developing research methods that encourage children's autonomy, agency and authenticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic has caused disruptive changes across different life experiences essential to children's growth and development, including early childcare services and schools, thus threatening precious opportunities for children in early childhood to learn. The pandemic has also undermined the collaborative and alliance relationship between childcare services and families which has been widely considered an important aspect of modern services. This paper presents and discusses results from a mixed‐method exploratory study with early childcare services for children between 0 and 6 years in Italy in 2021, involving both teachers and parents, to understand experiences, educational practices put in place in childcare services, feelings, resources and risks perceived by families and teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a feasibility study for an evaluation of a UK primary school‐based prevention programme that addresses multiple forms of abuse and neglect, identifying research design and ethical issues and exploring research practice. For this feasibility study, 194 children aged 6–11 years completed a baseline survey and 113 did so following the intervention. Eight focus groups were undertaken with 52 children and nine interviews with school staff. We highlight key considerations for conducting large‐scale mixed‐method research on sensitive topics with younger children, a focus that is largely absent from the extant research methods literature. The feasibility study showed that younger children can contribute their views on sensitive topics in ways that are measurable, replicable and reliable, contesting ideas that certain topics are too sensitive to explore with younger children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we address the relationship between ethics committees and children involved in qualitative educational research in Chile. In light of a central and recurring challenge (protection versus participation) and its implications, we reflect on informed consent as an instrument that embodies the power of ethics committees within the research process. We inform this reflection with extracts of visual ethnographic fieldwork carried out in 2017 in a marginalised school in Santiago, Chile, with children aged from 8 to 13. We draw on the principles of the Belmont Report (respect, beneficence, justice) to contrast procedural with situated ethics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings from a qualitative study that explored children's and families' experiences of alternative care in Thailand. The study used arts‐based methods to engage 160 children living in a range of care settings. This included government and NGO‐run residential care settings (RCS), children's villages, Buddhist temples, migrant learning centres and foster care homes. Interviews were also conducted with 20 parents/guardians who had placed their children in care. Findings show that despite the alternative care system presenting significant challenges, the participants revealed how they strived to preserve their family connections, and how they are 'doing family' in adversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children and young people's (CYP) life chances depend heavily on family resources. This paper reports a rapid review of qualitative/mixed method studies about Universal Credit undertaken with CYP in the UK; subsequently expanded to include additional descriptors of economic disadvantage. Sixteen studies were reviewed; narrative synthesis was used to explore themes. Most recruited CYP with experience of economic disadvantage; none explicitly reported perspectives of CYP experiencing disability or rurality. Findings show growing up in poverty has significant, negative impacts on health and well‐being, causing feelings of exclusion, shame and unfairness; raising important questions about the adequacy of welfare support in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores two orphaned girls' accounts of victimization and vulnerability to child sexual abuse in their family homes. Interviews with these girls revealed a trend of neglect, adversity and processes of adultification which involved accounts of sexual abuse within their family homes. According to the data, the participants are vulnerable and they experience victimization as they are routinely sexually abused by older male relatives and non‐related men and boys inside their family homes – where they are supposed to feel safe and protected. We argue that these two young girls' experiences need to be understood as consequences of the prevailing cultures of toxic heteropatriarchal masculinities which have produced and normalized the distribution of male power over girls. The kinds of interventions required to address toxic masculinities and to insulate orphan girls from sexual abuse and neglect are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the content of 61 video capsules, presenting stories about unhealthy relationships invented, performed and filmed by 534 adolescents, from Spain, Portugal, Romania and Italy. The purpose is to analyse, through a thematic analysis of the video capsules, youth perspectives on what factors, myths and beliefs turn healthy relationships into unhealthy relationships, and what positive assets are managed to solve them. The results show common youth's perspectives on the idealization of romantic love, based on gender stereotypes, identified as a common characteristic of unhealthy relationships. Individuality is misinterpreted as a threat to the stability of dating relationships. Positive assets used by victims to face dating violence (DV) are assertiveness, communication abilities and management of emotions, whereas offenders used assertiveness, empathy and critical thinking. The paper debates the efficacy of intervention programs combining youth positive development and DV prevention approaches based on filmmaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses how unequal power dynamics in research with young children in disadvantaged communities can be negotiated through co‐reflexivity. It explores this through two different projects, the "London Study" and the "Beirut Study", which researched the play of young children from families living with disadvantage in two distinct cultures. First, we highlight similarities between both studies' methodological and ethical approaches that were designed to 'listen' to the children, ensure 'ongoing consent' and co‐create knowledge through co‐reflexivity. We then draw on data from each study to demonstrate how, in their unique contexts, co‐reflexivity was crucial to address researcher–child power dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is widespread discourse and policy on children's participation in decision‐making. This is not matched with an equal level of implementation in practice. This qualitative research explores the policy to practice gap with senior decision makers in the child protection system in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Their reflections on the challenges associated with translating the participation principles into practice are deconstructed to understand the complex and overlapping ways in which participation is perceived. The research data indicate there are competing understandings of participation at play, depending on the actor, their role and organisation. This paper suggests that genuine participation in practice relies on bridging the epistemic differences and interests of different stakeholder groups who are all critical to achieving children's participation in service decision‐making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's lives in the Covid‐19 pandemic were subject to unparalleled restrictions on and disruption to their daily lives. This paper explores the day‐to‐day relational, social participation and activities of young children in one East London borough in early 2021, as told through qualitative interviews with their parents. We adopt a social‐ecological model of children's development, a child rights focused understanding of well‐being, underpinned by an agentic view of both parents and children. We find that for some children, parents had additional time to spend with them and new activities were possible. But for others, particularly those living 'compressed lives' in low‐income households and over‐crowded accommodation with no outside space of their own, all three aspects—relational, participatory and activities—were significantly diminished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social care policy in the UK emphasises the importance of supporting young adult carers to make positive transitions to adulthood. This paper reports findings from a qualitative study which explored whether young adult carers' services in England are facilitating transitions. The research found that young adult carers' services were endeavouring to raise young adult carers' aspirations and achieve personalised outcomes, in line with the Care Act 2014. However, formal provision for young adult carers in England, in the main, designates them as adult carers. Yet, young adult carers need to have sufficient opportunities for making decisions about their futures. Strategic funding and development of services are required to enable the Act's vision to be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflexivity has received relatively little analytic attention in discussions of younger adolescents' agency. Using interview data from a sample of South Korean adolescents, this paper explores whether and how they manifested reflexivity concerning the impacts of socioeconomic inequality on their own occupational prospects. Through combining and adapting existing theorisations, it proposes a heuristic model for analysing adolescents' reflexivity based on three interrelated continua: reflectiveness, criticality and boundedness. It is hoped this model will facilitate a more nuanced understanding of how adolescents' agency is constructed in relation to their developing capacity for reflexivity and the impacts of structural inequalities upon it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of dangers and safety in children's lives has become a matter of increasing concern. This paper aims to contribute to the discussion in this field and elaborate on children's experiences of risks and dangers in the context of chronic poverty. Drawing on the post‐humanism approach, we argue that children's conceptions of risks and dangers emerge through their active and mutual exchange with other human and non‐human beings such as rivers, trees, animals and insects, however, these perceptions should be carefully placed within the local socio‐economic context of poverty and social hierarchy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although armed conflicts and crises affect people of all ages, children are particularly susceptible to the effects of war. One significant consequence of armed conflict that is especially critical for children's well‐being, is when the belligerents use tactics specifically focused on harming children, including child soldier recruitment. Despite the increased attention of policy‐makers, we still lack systematic knowledge of how many children are directly and indirectly at risk of being recruited by state and non‐state actors. In overcoming this gap, we have collected data on the use of children by state and non‐state actors from 2010 onwards. Moreover, we estimate the number of children at risk of recruitment. The results of our mapping and estimation sketch a dark picture. According to our estimates, in 2020, approximately 337 million children (or 14%, or more than one in eight of all children globally) were living in a conflict zone with reported child soldier recruitment—that is less than 50 km from ongoing conflict, which involved at least one actor who has been reported to recruit children. We close the paper by taking stock of the current knowledge on the root causes of child soldiering, and we discuss some policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impacts of adolescents' screen time, learning outcomes and parental performance in relation to different mediation strategies. These issues are addressed through the analysis of a representative survey carried out with 1000 families in Hungary in 2017. Within this research, 12–16‐year‐old teenagers and their parents were asked about their experiences and perceptions of mediation. Four main parental strategies can be identified: balancing mediation, restriction, permission and ad hoc mediation. The significance of parental performance in the analyses indicates that parental mediation forms part of the contemporary parenting skillset and correlates with perceptions of children's screen time and subjective quality of parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper interrogates the discourses of stunting in Indonesia and its links to early childhood education. Here, stunting is analysed via Foucault's work, with data stemming from a long‐term ethnography study and analysis of relevant policy documents in Indonesia. We argue the discourses of stunting have been regulating children, teachers and parents by acting as a form of biopower of governing rationalities. Focusing merely on the individual and nutrition aspects, the discourses overlook larger societal problems. In such a space, the children, teachers and parents become a site of the state's surveillance and are produced as docile bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how young people who have been in out‐of‐home care develop a positive agentic capacity. The analyses are based on longitudinal biographical interviews with 24 care experienced young people (age 16–32 years) living in Norway. At the time of the interviews, they were in the education system or working and described themselves as 'doing well'. Through the application of a relational understanding of agency, this paper provides in‐depth insights into how relations shape the biography, identity and decisions of young people with care backgrounds, scaffold positive possibilities and enhance their life opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graduation model interventions represent a new wave of anti‐poverty programming that seeks to offer a sustainable pathway out of poverty. An expanding evidence base points towards positive economic outcomes at household level but little is known about impacts on child well‐being. This paper investigates children's well‐being in Burundi during and after participation in a graduation model programme using a longitudinal mixed‐methods approach. The programme is found to improve child well‐being, particularly in relation to housing, food security and education. Covariate shocks undermine sustainability of effects but greater knowledge, experience and prioritisation of children's needs contribute to harnessing improved outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents findings from explorative research conducted in Italy with seven 9‐ to 12‐year‐old children with non‐heterosexual parents. The aim was to find out how children describe their family structure, how they talk about their family with peers, and how they experience peers' attitudes towards non‐heterosexual families. Findings show that children have a flexible and inclusive representation of family and they disclose selectively with their peers who don't always consider homosexuality normal and homoparental families ‘real families’. The paper concludes by suggesting that institutional recognition for same‐sex parenting would support children in the everyday work of negotiating diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assent guidelines currently fail to include an assessment of a child's decision‐making ability, experience and interest. This paper summarises a two‐stage study, conducted in the United Kingdom, exploring perspectives on children's decision‐making power and ability within their family, as an indicator for overall decision‐making readiness. Children desired to make some decisions but knew their parents held ultimate authority. Parents believed their children could make some decisions and actively trained them through involvement in daily decisions. Researchers should strive to include children in enrolment decisions to some degree, based on a consideration of their expectations for involvement informed by their daily family context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, social exclusion has gained the attention of governments around the world. This paper reports on a qualitative study involving 27 young men aged 14-19 years experiencing particular forms of exclusion in the context of Northern Irish society. The study used a focus group methodology to elicit their views with the aim of exploring both emotional and psychological needs and the structural factors that may contribute to their experiences of social exclusion. The findings reveal a range of unmet social and psychological needs, the impact of sectarianism and segregation, and a paucity of support systems in place. The paper concludes by making recommendations about how policy-makers and practitioners could find more imaginative ways of engaging such vulnerable young men to reduce social exclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the experiences of working with a group of disabled young people over a 12-month period, during which perspectives of subjective well-being were explored. Methodological experiences, and particularly strategies which facilitated accessing young people's views, are described. The paper then moves on to focusing on the challenges and dilemmas of taking a participative approach. These experiences are contextualised within wider debates on participative approaches in social research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research from the Economic and Social Research Council programme on Pathways Into and Out of Crime prioritised young people's 'voices' in exploring experiences of crime and a range of intervention services. Drawing on data from interviews with 110 young people, this paper explores their perspectives of professional assessment. Embedded within neo-liberal youth welfare policies are a number of contradictions. Policies encourage 'individualisation', 'responsiblisation' and 'self-realisation' while also needing to maintain control and regulation of 'risky' populations. This paper explores the implication of these contradictions through examining the experiences of young people being assessed in youth justice and education. The impact on their identities as neo-liberal citizens is discussed in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines how young people describe experiences of bullying when participating in an Internet community dedicated to young people experiencing mental health problems. The micro-analytic focus demonstrates how young people construct their identities in relation to their telling about their experiences of being victims of bullying, reporting on two distinct ways that they framed their postings. The posters either disclosed their experiences about bullying in relation to a wider self-presentation of experiences of bullying (bullying being part of their past and a partial reason for their problems), or more straightforwardly asked for help and advice from other participants to find ways of dealing with ongoing bullying. Finally, the paper demonstrates how contributors orient to the Internet community, and calls for more research based on unsolicited naturalistic data for such issues as bullying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many countries today, digital technology and instant communication are embedded in children's everyday lives to the extent that their play frequently incorporates smartphones, the Internet and other technologies. In this paper, we explore the recent historical conditions within the New Zealand context that have increased the accessibility of these technologies and imbued them with particular meanings. We suggest that from a Foucauldian perspective, these technologies can be seen as a form of subtle disciplinary power using techniques of governmentality through which children's ways of thinking are shaped to benefit societal requirements of the current historical era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 20 years of research has enhanced our understanding about the methodological and ethical benefits and challenges of involving children and young people in research. Concurrently, the increasing bureaucratisation of research ethics governance within UK universities has reified expectations about the methods used to gain informed consent for research participation. This paper explores how social researchers in the UK are navigating this tension and whether there is any scope for innovation through the use of technologies in how children and young people provide informed consent to take part in research. We conclude there is a need for the co‐creation of research information with children and young people and greater transparency by sharing creative solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's mental health and development issues are considered a significant concern today. A century and more ago children's mental health and developmental disorders were likely understood differently. This paper examines the portrayal of children's mental health and developmental disorders in all 41 accessible articles on the topic indexed in the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature from 1890 to 1920. It focuses on these three decades as a time of fundamental economic, political and social transition before the first text in Child Psychiatry was published and the first professorship in the field established. It was also before the beginning of the influential child guidance movement. In particular, the research asks (i) what were the ‘disorders’ discussed and of what were they said to consist?, (ii) what was said to cause them? and (iii) what was thought best to be done about them? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For migrant children, moving to a new country is marked by excitement, anxiety and practical challenges in managing this significant transition. This paper draws upon the concepts of social capital and social networks to examine migrant children's access to services post‐migration. Using data from a qualitative study with Eastern European families in Scotland, we identify a range of cumulative barriers that limit children's access to services and illustrate how their experiences are shaped by ethnicity, social class and place. The study shows that migrant children are often disadvantaged post‐migration and develop their own mechanisms to mitigate the impact of migration on their lives. We argue that migrant children's own social networks are relevant and they need to be analysed through a more individualised approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has shown that pregnancy and motherhood increase the risk of experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) — physical, sexual and emotional — in relationships. Much of this research, however, explores this issue in relation to adults and little attention has been given to the experiences of pregnant teenagers or teenage mothers in violent relationships. This paper focuses on three main areas to explore this, disadvantage, sexual negotiations and stigma, and draws upon interviews conducted by the authors with 16 teenage mothers in the UK as part of a wider study about IPV in the relationships of disadvantaged young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports findings about parents' experiences of caring for young people with Autistic Spectrum Conditions (ASCs) moving into adulthood. In‐depth interviews were conducted with 38 parents of young people (15–21 years) with ASCs. Data were analysed thematically. In the perceived absence of service support, parents' acted as ‘care‐coordinators’ and ‘life‐supporters’ for their child as they moved into adulthood. These roles came with little choice, emotional demands and personal restrictions. Being supported was important for parents, but preferences differed regarding what this should look like. Implications for policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schools have been identified as playing a key role in supporting the children of prisoners. This paper reports on a study, which explored the support provision offered in schools to children who experience parental imprisonment. By interviewing school representatives, stakeholders, parents and children, we illustrate the support available in schools, the issues that arise and ways in which support provision can be strengthened. Our findings indicate that children of prisoners often constitute a 'forgotten' group in schools, and we suggest that an awareness of these children and the challenges they face needs to be raised amongst education practitioners and policy-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes an exploratory evaluation of the Peers Early Education Partnership 'Room to Play', an innovative and experimental 'drop-in' service seeking to attract and engage 'hard-to-reach' families in one of the most deprived areas of a Midlands city. Located in a shop unit of a busy community shopping centre, it offers play and learning activities for children, and provides opportunities for parents to talk to practitioners in a neutral and supportive environment. Through a mixed methods design, the authors attempted to document the core components of a potential transferable model of intervention, within challenging research constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings from a qualitative study undertaken with 46 African and African Caribbean men exploring their experiences of fatherhood. Data analysis was informed by Connell's theoretical work on changing gender relations. Findings indicate that fathers' lives were mediated by masculinities, racism, gender, migration and generational changes in parenting. Fathers advocated a style of parenting centred on good communication with children. The implications of findings for theory, future research and health and social care policy regarding both children's well-being and the inclusion of fathers by health and social care practitioners are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the literature on paediatric oncology treatment has provided descriptions of children's everyday lives that are circumscribed to periods of hospitalisation. In this paper, I argue that the political and economic context where children receive oncology treatment as well as the particular trajectories of their families influence their experiences. The narratives from children receiving treatment in three public hospitals in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were collected. Their stories indicate that issues such as the interruption of school, the separation of family members, the expenses incurred during treatment, and barriers to care influence the everyday lives of children and should be included in paediatric oncology research. © 2011 The Author(s). Children & Society © 2011 National Children's Bureau and Blackwell Publishing Limited [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are few published articles on conducting large-scale surveys in secondary schools, and this paper seeks to fill this gap. Drawing on the experiences of the Youth On Religion project, it discusses the politics of gaining access to these schools and the considerations leading to the adoption and administration of an online survey. It is concluded that successful research in schools has to be planned carefully in collaboration with key members of staff, and justified as an educational activity. Providing speedy feedback was helpful to ensure schools benefited from the research and to keep them engaged with the project. © 2011 The Author(s). Children & Society © 2011 National Children's Bureau and Blackwell Publishing Limited [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on collaborative research conducted with ChildLine Scotland, a free, confidential, telephone counselling service, using their database. We focussed on children's calls about parental health and well-being and how this affected their own lives. Children's concerns emerged within multi-layered calls in which they discussed multiple issues and problems in their lives such as alcohol misuse, drug misuse, domestic violence, family relationships, depression, mental health problems and bereavement. We discuss how children were making sense of these experiences; how they were trying to get by in difficult family circumstances; whose help they valued; and conclude with implications for policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]