Search

This paper examines the participation of children and young people within government consultation processes. It considers the recent Department for Education consultation on its statutory guidance for schools for Relationships and Sex Education in England. The paper is based on a Freedom of Information request for the consultation responses categorised as from 'young people'. We identify two issues in our interrogation of the data. First, there is evidence that a substantial proportion of responses were not submitted by young people. Second, the consultation approach did not include all the features necessary for meaningful consultation. We consider the implications for the youth consultation on policy matters that affect them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secure children's homes are locked institutions that deprive children of their liberty. The government are investing significantly in these homes, yet there remains a lack of clarity about their nature and purpose. Drawing on data generated through a substantial ethnography in one secure children's home in England, this paper uses Goffman's (1961) theorising as a conceptual lens to view the institution. It concludes that ambiguity and confusion about what these institutions are, and what they seek to achieve, impacts negatively on the experience of everyday life within. Clarity is needed urgently to improve experiences and to enable the assessment of outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how relational approaches to well‐being could support young children's educational achievement in high‐poverty contexts. It draws on findings from a qualitative study involving mothers and early years educators living and/or working in a city characterised as one of the most disadvantaged in England. The findings suggest that children's well‐being, rather than being merely an individual characteristic or aspiration, is interdependent with their social and material environments, as are the institutions that support them. The paper concludes by calling for a recalibration of early childhood policies away from assessing individual children's 'school readiness' to encouraging society's readiness to support everyone's well‐being, and consequently that of young children too. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an account of an innovative research project that enabled the co‐creation with justice‐involved young people of a transformative framework of practice, termed Participatory Youth Practice (PYP). We present a description of our participatory research processes and reflect on our attempts to rebalance inherent power dynamics when working with marginalised young people. We demonstrate how young people's meaningful participation in research can strengthen their participation in service design and delivery. The embedding of the PYP framework in youth justice practice across a large region in England is a formative step in understanding the importance of young people's participation. [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]

Whilst the link between young people's well‐being and the creative arts is strengthening, there is a lack of research which focuses on the roles that artists play to help teachers and parents engage young people in the creative arts. This paper explores the benefits of and barriers to artists working in education in six European countries (England, Iceland, Germany, Greece, Italy and Austria). Using the '5A's model of creativity' and a view of professional development taking place within 'landscapes of practice', the data were analysed in order to explain how creativity is operationalised in the different contexts. Our study highlights the need for policy at a national and transnational level to value the creative arts in order to help teachers cross boundaries and utilise the full potential of the creative arts in schools. Our study also highlights that further research is needed into how artists shape teaching and curriculum and how schools engage parents in the creative arts in order to build an evidence‐base relating to young people's positive mental health that can affect policy at these levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops understandings of how being publicly identified and consequently labelled as 'looked after' can have damaging consequences for young people, particularly in how they are perceived by their peers in the context of schooling. Based on qualitative research in northern England utilising participatory approaches with young people and interviews with support staff, we explore barriers that inhibit young people's sense of belonging. We highlight how the very processes and practices set up to support the young people can often have unintended consequences by routinely positioning them as Other, before considering the implications for education and schooling in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the life‐history research approach, outlining its key aims and traditions. It suggests that what is often missing from life‐history research is the inclusion of young children as life‐history participants. This paper considers some innovative means for constructing children's life‐histories across 5 years of their primary schooling in Britain. These include interviews based on activities, games, role‐play, pictures and filming, and photography. The article concludes by narrating a short life‐history of one child who is a participant in our life‐history study of 23 'lower‐attaining' children. To close, I consider the critical role of life‐history research in highlighting social injustice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Friendship is a central focus in children's lives and is important for healthy development. During the Covid‐19 pandemic, children experienced restrictions on their interactions with friends. This research heard the voices of 10 children (7–11 years) in England regarding their friendships, drawing on data collected through creative participatory methods including drawings, photography and collages, and accompanying unstructured interviews. Findings provide new insights into how children endeavoured to maintain their friendships through virtual interactions, street/doorstep visits, and artwork, and how friendship disruption affected their well‐being. This paper argues for educators to heed the implications for the period of 'Covid recovery'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses a recent study on three 'Youth Commission' on police and crime projects. Professional viewpoints were interpreted to understand how they valued young people's participation and made sense of their experiences and capabilities. Framed within policing reforms, the 'Youth Commission' projects regard young people as co‐producers, who work in partnership with professionals to address police and crime issues. The focus is upon professionals and their relationships with young people for transformative participation and social outcomes. Working in partnerships showed interdependency but identifies further challenges if professionals do not truly value young people's participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During adolescence, risk to young people's safety shifts from familial to community contexts. Contextual safeguarding has emerged in response to this dynamic; by providing a conceptual framework through which to incorporate extra-familial contexts (and those who manage them) into traditionally family focused child protection systems. This paper uses Geographic Information System mapping techniques to explore the extent to which bus boarding data could be used to: target protective interventions in public spaces; evidence routes where young people may be vulnerable; and build local area problem profiles. In doing so it provides foundational evidence for including transport providers in contextual safeguarding systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This TACTYC funded research highlights the role that Maintained Nursery Schools (MNS) play in supporting families within areas of extreme social deprivation in the UK. Data collected through survey and interview demonstrated the positive impact that these schools have upon disadvantaged children and their families, providing a breadth and depth of ongoing care, against a backdrop of ongoing fiscal cuts and uncertainty. Often this provision was in lieu of the reported minimisation of other social services support for struggling families. We argue in this paper that the loss of these state institutions could be highly detrimental to the families that they currently support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trauma‐informed practice has been developing for decades, though much remains unknown regarding how it is understood and practised. Drawing upon focus group data from an evaluation of a trauma‐informed approach (TIA) implemented by an organisation in Southeast England, this paper provides a unique perspective of 31 staff members and 18 young people. Results indicate how choice and control, key elements of a TIA, align with the Capability Approach (CA). The CA is then used as a novel analytic framework to examine the data. A 'Trauma‐Informed Capabilities Approach' is introduced as a holistic, person‐centred way of conceptualising young trauma survivors' well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sure Start Children's Centres were central to the last UK Labour government in improving outcomes for children and families. Yet, participation by those who ‘ought’ to attend was and remains a focus of concern. Using the work of Foucault, this paper explores parental participation in two Centres to examine how ‘government operates at a distance’, through the everyday interactions of those who inhabit these spaces. In exploring micro‐practices, the humble cup of tea can be seen, not only as a small act of caring but a site of power and struggle over what these spaces meant to parents and practitioners. [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]

This article highlights three dimensions to understanding children's well-being during and after parental imprisonment which have not been fully explored in current research. A consideration of 'time' reveals the importance of children's past experiences and their anticipated futures. A focus on 'space' highlights the impact of new or altered environmental dynamics. A study of 'agency' illuminates how children cope within structural, material and social confines which intensify vulnerability and dependency. This integrated perspective reveals important differences in individual children's experiences and commonalities in broader systemic and social constraints on prisoners' children. The paper analyses data from a prospective longitudinal study of 35 prisoners' children during and after their (step) father's imprisonment to illustrate the arguments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food insecurity in the UK has been described as a public health emergency. Although programmes exist to alleviate food insecurity for children and families, there is a lack of focus on 16–17 year olds across research, policy and practice. The current study set out to address this gap by investigating the food insecurity status and food intake of 16‐17‐year‐olds relative to current nutritional guidelines. An online, cross‐sectional survey design was utilised to collect data on self‐reported food security status, food intake and access to and uptake of free college meals. Eighty‐three students aged 16–17 years from two sixth form colleges based in the North East of England, UK participated. Food intake data were compared to current dietary recommendations on fruit and vegetable intake and high fat/salt/sugar foods; food intake was compared between food secure and food insecure young people. A minority of young people consumed enough fruit and vegetables to meet or exceed current 5‐a‐day dietary recommendations, but the majority of young people consumed two or more high fat/salt/sugar items, consumption of which was higher in food insecure young people. Additionally, despite almost half the current sample identifying as food insecure, only four young people reported being entitled to free college meals.The current study was the first to identify food insecurity and poor food intake specifically amongst 16–17 year olds in England. A lack of uptake of free college meals shows that current policy is not sufficient to address food insecurity amongst this group [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers Section 17 'child in need' provision under the Children Act 1989, the main legislation governing Children's Services in England. Arguably, Section 17 has never been given the same priority as other statutory requirements under the Act. The intention was to create a broad umbrella provision for children living with their families, but children assessed as 'in need' are not entitled to receive such services unless they are disabled. This exploration is timely given the current Independent Review of Children's Social Care in England, ongoing austerity measures, high rates of child poverty and COVID‐19. Consideration is given to the development of Section 17 and what the future may hold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proponents of the Capabilities Approach advocate that young people should be able to live lives they have reason to value, supported by public services. Mixed‐methods Participatory Action Research involving 47 young people aged 13–16, five practitioners, and one commissioner was carried out to develop a local Capabilities Framework. The framework had five themes: 'people and relationships', 'places, spaces and time for me', 'learning and skills', 'freedoms, rights and responsibilities' and 'health and wellbeing'. Recommendations for service design include cross‐sector working to support the promotion of social opportunities and services, and interventions focused on the strengths of each young person. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When foster care is discussed in research, emotions are mostly kept out of the scope. This article explores emotions narrated by young people in foster care and by their foster carers. It brings together findings from two studies: The first used biographical interviews conducted with 100 young people from Germany, while the second draws on ethnographic interviews with 12 young people from France and England. The analysis, in line with relevant literature, shows that although emotions are hardly mentioned directly, they seem to be highly relevant in understanding the experience of foster care. Therefore, we suggest, professionalism and emotions need to be understood as complementary elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of foster carers can be described as similar to the role of parents, but with some additional tasks. Through focus groups, children in care, young adults who are care‐experienced, foster carers, and social workers in England and Portugal shared their views on this role. Key themes included the need to promote children's sense of belonging and relationships with foster carers and their birth family, to support children's individual needs, and to recognise the influence of children's social care services, social workers and foster carers' family and social network. Foster carers and social workers in the English sample talked about the complementarity between the parenting side of the role and these additional tasks. On the other hand, children and young adults in both samples, and foster carers and social workers in the Portuguese sample, focused mostly on the parenting side of the role, but also stated the importance of some additional tasks, such as collaboration with children's birth families. These findings reflect policies and alternative care context differences between England and Portugal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study, undertaken in England, explored young carers' perspectives on the nature of their caring responsibilities. The findings are significant, particularly in the context of England's Care Act 2014, which seeks to prevent children engaging in 'excessive' or 'inappropriate' caring. Our research placed children at the heart of the debate on what constitutes appropriate care. The findings raise key questions regarding effective implementation of contemporary child policy, duties of care towards children in caring roles and priorities for child protection and family support policy and practices, with the potential to inform thinking around child's well‐being in wider contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the provision of music education in schools in England, arguing that access to music education is the right of every child and therefore that a high‐quality and sustained curriculum offer must be provided in all state‐funded schools. Music education in England is widely recognised as being marginalised in state schools, despite it being a statutory requirement as part of the National Curriculum. This policy review examines several threats to music education, such as accountability measures, funding cuts, curriculum narrowing and erosion of the teaching workforce, identifying some of the key evidence in each case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about whether and how children combine categories of race, ethnicity, language and religion in multicultural settings where more than one of these dimensions is salient. Ethnographic data from a multicultural London primary school found that children usually organised multiple categories congruently (e.g. 'If you're Indian you are Sikh'), despite strong opposition from teachers. This congruent organisation may originate in an undifferentiated experience of categories in the family and/or represent the best 'fit' with a local population in which categories were correlated. Children used congruent organisation to infer peers' group membership, which may amplify intergroup contrasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2002 a UK Government initiative enabled the fostering of links between UK school children and school children in Low and Middle Income Countries through the shared Just Like You project about health and rights. This manuscript reports English children's perspectives on the lives of their peers in Kenya, whose school link began in 2007. Data were gathered and analysed in 2014 via six focus groups with 132 children. The result was a constructed grounded theory of respectful reflection that represents a basic social process. Respectful reflection comprises three categories; being similar, living differently and finding the strengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, social research has encouraged the involvement of children in research concerning them. However, there is little evidence to demonstrate how autistic children can be involved. Little is known about which methods are appropriate to research the social worlds of autistic children: adult‐centred or child‐centred methods? Empirical research with autistic children is used to illustrate the contribution that methods which involve children, and methods that do not, can make to the understanding of autistic children's social worlds. I argue while autistic children's participation contributed towards greater understanding, the understanding was enriched for having parents and teachers participate too. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is set in the North of England in the context of debates around the integration of communities, after a series of street disturbances in the early 2000s. The debates centred upon ‘social cohesion’ and the social mixing of Pakistani British and White British communities. The current study explores this from the context of 10‐ to 11‐year‐old Asian, Black and White British boys participating in cricket and football clubs. It draws on the sociology of childhood approach that sees children as active participants and co‐creators of their own lives. This more nuanced approach sheds important light on children's own negotiations of home, peers, sports clubs and identities that are key to how cohesion is achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interviews were conducted with boys and young men who have Duchenne muscular dystrophy, exploring their thoughts on making a decision to participate in medical research. This article focuses on one of the key findings, discussing how the participants identified their parents as carers, spokespersons and advisors. The term ‘relational autonomy’ encapsulates these co‐operative relationships, illustrating how they can help young people living with a degenerative disability to exercise some agency and autonomy. The boys and their families have demonstrated how disabled children who are physically dependent can be supported by their parents, without compromising independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CANparent trial, 2012–2014, was a government initiative in four English areas designed to develop a market in universal parenting support. Fourteen parenting class providers offered classes to all parents of children aged 0–5 in the areas. In three areas, all eligible parents received £100 vouchers exchangeable for a parenting class. Pre‐trial planning was that take‐up would amount to 20 000 parents. However, only 14 per cent of these parents took advantage of the offer. This article utilises 42 interviews with providers, and two parent surveys over two time periods (n = 1510 and n = 1603) to review barriers to engagement with universal parenting support programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationally child health records are central instruments of paediatric early detection and prevention of developmental disorders. Regarding children's developmental processes, child health records act as agents of developmental norms, moderate the distribution of tasks between parents and paediatricians and thus materially mediate practices of generational ordering. Drawing on actor-network-theoretical and ethnomethodological approaches to documents as active texts, the comparative analysis of child health records from three European countries focuses on similarities and differences in the conceptions of parental and paediatric responsibilities that can be reconstructed from the documents' form. Referencing normalism theory, the authors work out analytically how health programmes are materialised in documents/instruments, how specific conceptions of the child in development differ and how the construction of parental and paediatric tasks varies in these instruments. In concluding, the analysis is contextualised in different health policies in childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Progress in the implementation of children's participation rights in England is reviewed and situated within a broader agenda of social change. The article argues that much of the energy for 'change for children' has resided within a governance pathway across policy, practice and research. An alternative perspective is offered by re-connecting children's rights debates to those of social movements and asking whether childhood publics are possible, what they might look like and where they might be found. It is concluded that a cross-national and longitudinal perspective grounded in everyday life is likely to provide a more nuanced understanding of the change for children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers, health and social care workers often seek to understand the perspectives of children; but gathering views directly from children can present difficulties. Parents are often asked to provide accounts of children's feelings or opinions on the assumption that their proxy reports are accurate and unproblematic. This qualitative thematic analysis of open-question responses from 352 parents and 73 disabled children examines their accounts of the impact of short break services on disabled children. Participants' perspectives differed; children tended to describe immediate outcomes such as enjoying activities and participation; parents acknowledged these, but focused on longer term developmental outcomes for children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]