The perspective of the child in child and youth welfare : editorial by Tim Tausendfreund, Daniela Reimer and Thomas Gabriel

Part of the Special Issue "The perspective of the child in child and youth welfare".
In child and youth welfare and social work research, there has been an increasing interest in the views of children. Intergenerational relationships between children and adults and their inherent power structures have become objects of public and scientific scrutiny (van Krieken & Bühler-Niederberger, 2009). This professional and scientific development reflects broader cultural and societal changes (Stearns, 2021). Expressed in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, a human rights treaty asserts the right of every child to self-determination, dignity, respect, non-interference, and the right to make informed decisions. In recent decades, practitioners, academics, and governments in the realm of children's services have taken up the mantle of meeting the daily challenges set forth by this convention (Kosher, Ben-Arieh & Hendelsman, 2016). As a result, acknowledging and understanding the perspective of the child in practice and research has become a core issue for advancing social work. The challenges and opportunities that arise from this fundamental task have been the main theme of the XVI International Conference of the European Scientific Association on Residential and Family Care for Children and Adolescents (EuSARF, https://eusarf.org/).