Children’s Participation in Child Protection Practice in Ghana: Practitioners’ Recommendations for Practice

Abstract

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) includes provisions to ensure that children and young people participate in decisions affecting their lives. Ghana ratified the convention in 1990 making a commitment to review its child protection policies and legislation in compliance with provisions in the UNCRC. Yet, national policies and legislation do not include practical guidelines to promote children’s participation in the child protection process. Thus, this qualitative study presents findings from in-depth interviews with 15 child protection practitioners on their views about some practical guidelines to promote children’s participation in child protection. Data from the interviews were subjected to constructivist grounded theory analysis. The study findings revealed the age of the child, separate room for children, creating a friendly environment and education as some important factors for practitioners to consider in promoting participatory practices for children. Child protection policies and legislation in Ghana should include these suggestions to ensure that children’s views are heard in the child protection process. To realize the overarching goal of achieving active child participation in child protection, further research may focus on the views of parents and children on how to develop culturally relevant strategies to promote child participation.     

The 'best interests of the child' thesis: some thoughts from Australia

In the 36 years since the 1973 publication of ' Beyond the Best Interests of the Child ' by Goldstein, Freud and Solnit, the phase 'the best interests of the child' has achieved biblical standing and is now embedded in childcare and protection legislation worldwide. It also resonates through clinical reports and other materials that form the basis for proceedings in Children's Courts and in Family Law Courts. Such is the power of the phrase that it is to be found in Article 18 of the Convention on the Rights of Children that was adopted by the United Nations in September 1989. In 1996, Goldstein, Solnit and Goldstein, with Freud, indicated a preference for the phrase 'least detrimental alternative' rather than 'the best interests of the child'. For this reason, and because the world in 2009 is a far different place from that which existed 36 years ago, we think it is time to re-examine this classic phrase both in terms of its underlying thesis and how it is used in present-day childcare and protection proceedings and practice.     

The 'best interests of the child' thesis: some thoughts from Australia

In the 36 years since the 1973 publication of ' Beyond the Best Interests of the Child ' by Goldstein, Freud and Solnit, the phase 'the best interests of the child' has achieved biblical standing and is now embedded in childcare and protection legislation worldwide. It also resonates through clinical reports and other materials that form the basis for proceedings in Children's Courts and in Family Law Courts. Such is the power of the phrase that it is to be found in Article 18 of the Convention on the Rights of Children that was adopted by the United Nations in September 1989. In 1996, Goldstein, Solnit and Goldstein, with Freud, indicated a preference for the phrase 'least detrimental alternative' rather than 'the best interests of the child'. For this reason, and because the world in 2009 is a far different place from that which existed 36 years ago, we think it is time to re-examine this classic phrase both in terms of its underlying thesis and how it is used in present-day childcare and protection proceedings and practice.     

《联合国海洋法公约》退出机制及我国的考量

即使在全球化的时代,国家利益至上仍然是无可厚非的。中国作为《联合国海洋法公约》的签署国,在维护公约精神、履行公约义务的同时,理应享拥公约赋予的权利——国家利益,并得到公约的强力保障。然而,作为折衷产物的《联合国海洋法公约》,在30年的实施过程中,虽建立起了一套新的海洋法律秩序,但“软法”的迹象显现。就我国岛屿争端的现实来看,公约在争端解决上少有效用,我国的海洋权益屡次被声索国恶意利用公约之名侵占。本文就《联合国海洋法公约》退出机制,对我国保留公约缔约国身份的相关问题展开探讨,结论是积极影响与消极影响共存,如果我国与周边国家的矛盾进一步突出,退出公约,可望争取更广大的处理空间。     

The child's voice in child and family social work decision making: the perspective of a guardian ad litem

This article shows how the voice of the child has come to prominence in decision making, against the background of changes in emphasis between family rights and child protection viewpoints, reflected in 20th-century legislation on family matters. It argues that the role of the guardian ad litem , the historical development of which is charted, is central to the evaluation of the child's views; these are not always straightforward and they must be viewed in tandem with a professional assessment of the child's best interests. The article concludes that the child's voice cannot be the deciding factor in decision making; adults cannot abrogate their responsibility to make reasoned decisions, based both on children's wishes and feelings and on other factors which children, in their immaturity, cannot appreciate.     

Age limits for participation in child protection court proceedings in Sweden

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and Swedish legislation, children have the right to participate in child protection proceedings. The aim of this paper is to describe and analyse the notion of age and maturity in child protection proceedings in order to elucidate how these aspects could influence children's rights to participate. We focus on the view of three groups of actors involved in child protection proceedings in Sweden—social workers, lawyers, and laypersons in social welfare boards and administrative courts—and on how children's age and maturity should be taken into consideration in decisions on their participation in court. The analysis is based on survey data. The study found that social workers, laypersons, and lawyers have different views on when children are old enough to have the right to litigate in court. Additionally, there is no consensus on how the maturity of the child can be assessed to inform the decision about participation. More discussion is needed about what competences a child needs to participate in court and to what extent this right should be limited by their age. Importantly, courts and decision‐making proceedings can be made more child friendly.     

Who to Serve? The Ethical Dilemma of Employment Consultants in Nonprofit Disability Employment Network Organisations

The Welfare‐to‐work policy, implemented in July 2006 by the Federal Government, imposed a new work and activity obligation on people applying for the Disability Support Pension. This requirement not only created a new obligation for people with disability but also for employment consultants working in nonprofit Disability Employment Network organisations to monitor the conduct of this new cohort on behalf of Centrelink. For many employment consultants traditionally drawn to the nonprofit disability sector for altruistic reasons, this has created an ethical dilemma between their duty to their employer, and acting in the best interests of their clients. Drawing on aspects of ethical theory we find that, although most employment consultants justify their actions in terms of duty to the organisation, some find themselves in an ethical dilemma of ‘who to serve’ when the interests of the organisation and the welfare of the client are mismatched.     

The Indian family in the seventies; an integrated family policy

Social and economic stresses of urban and industrial developments are eroding the traditional closeknit Indian family structure and causing a change in values among the young people. A comprehensive program aimed at strengthening all aspects of family life is needed. This would include legislation raising the minimum age of marriage and counseling in sexual matters and family planning. In India families are still considered more important than individuals and counseling should be directed to the family as a unit. The family's needs of housing, education, health, welfare, and employment should be considered as part of a whole package program.     

Professionals' attitudes to children's participation in decision-making: dichotomous accounts and doctrinal contests

The attitude of professionals to the involvement of children in decision-making is unclear. This paper discusses a recent research study that utilized qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the views of professionals working in family support and child protection about two different aspects of children's participation in decision-making: the age at which children should make decisions and whether or not they should be involved in child protection conferences. The results showed that social workers tended to favour one of two diametrically opposed viewpoints about the age at which young people should make decisions and then in discussions with colleagues they sought to persuade others to change their perspective. Social workers who believed that young people should not make decisions until much older nevertheless thought that they should be involved in conferences whereas non-social workers did not make this distinction: for them, children who were not old enough to make decisions for themselves should not be involved in conferences. The results are discussed in the light of some of the implications for practice. The paper concludes by outlining how the results informed the design of a training pack commissioned by the Department of Health concerning the involvement of young people.     

Social Welfare: Availability and Delivery of Services and Benefits for Children

It is contended that social welfare legislation is principally concerned with the allocation of resources of income, wealth, position and power. Australian legislation providing welfare services and benefits for children is assessed from this perspective. It is argued that the present legislation providing income support payments for young people accords excessive weight to the promotion of economic interests of the community such as the work ethic and fails to address the social and human needs of that population. It is also contended that the structure of the child welfare services legislation is overly concerned to cater to conservative forces in society who favour social control measures designed to protect their values and interests and who resist efforts to provide a network of non-coercive preventive services. Both areas of the law are criticized on the basis that they place excessive reliance on the notion that the family unit is capable of carrying the major responsibility for income support and service provision.     

国家管辖范围以外区域海洋生物多样性的保护与管理

本文阐述了国家管辖范围以外区域的管理现状,以及国际社会为应对该区域海洋生物多样性保护与管理已做出的努力,分析了制定相关法律和建设公海保护区存在的问题,并提出了我国在此领域应采取的积极对策,以切实维护《联合国海洋法公约》赋予我国的合法权益,促进我国经济社会的可持续发展。     

Inter-country Adoption: Australia's Position

Although each Australian state and territory has its own adoption legislation and its own social welfare department, they have combined to send inter-country adoption delegations to Asian countries to negotiate working arrangements on a uniform basis. When a child is adopted by people in another country, care needs to be taken in both countries by authorities, professional workers and parents to ensure that the best interests of the child are paramount. Over 1,000 children from Asian countries have been adopted by Australians. There is a dearth of published research material, but there are indications that most of these adoptions are proving very satisfactory for the children. To protect the child's status in terms of name, nationality and guardianship, it is important that policies and procedures in relation to adoption practice, immigration, and statutory recognition of overseas adoptions adequately complement each other.     

《联合国海洋法公约》在南海争端中的效用及中国对策

中国是一个负责任的大国，作为《联合国海洋法公约》的签署国，维护公约的精神和严肃性是我们应尽的义务。我们既需要坚持公平和正义的原则，保持航道畅通和航行自由，又必须援引公约，捍卫在领海的主权和专属经济区及大陆架内的主权权利，坚决反对某些国家恶意利用公约，并以公约之名行侵犯中国权利之实。本文围绕相关国家对公约的不同释义而产生的分歧，探讨公约在争端解决中的优势与缺失，以及其在南海争端中应发挥的效用。     

Federalism Policy,Economic Policy and Implementation of the Bailey Report

The Bailey Task Force (BTF) report is reviewed from the perspective of a would-be implementer. The BTF report is partially implementable if its writers were able to resolve three critical issues. First, they might emphasize how its four Program (Block) Grant proposals would influence the economy through opening up employment opportunities. Next, they should spell out how pilot developments of certain Program Grants could proceed with model legislation, and should indicate the contents of that legislation. Finally, they should be more specific about consultative mechanisms involving non-government agencies and local government.     

Working late: policy relevance for older workers in the United States

The United States has seen a sizable increase in older worker labour force participation, although how much of this is due to public policy is uncertain. In fact, outside of academic and policy research circles, there has been relatively little attention paid to older workers and the challenges of an aging workforce in that country. Public policymakers have not demonstrated the same interest in expanding employment opportunities for older workers that they have shown for other groups, or that has been seen in other countries. Still, a number of significant pieces of legislation have been enacted over the past several decades that should be making continued employment at later ages easier, more attractive, or more essential financially. This paper examines those policies. However, because of confounding and conflicting influences from elsewhere, public policy initiatives focusing on older worker employment do not appear to be major contributors to rising labour force participation rates at older ages.     

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Canadian implementation efforts for indigenous children and youth

Since playing the role of co-host at the 1990 World Summit for Children in New York, Canada has promoted the adoption of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child at home and abroad. What impact has this unprecedented international human rights document had on Canadian First Nations, Inuit and other Aboriginal groups? This paper looks at Canada's implementation of this UN Convention, and specifically at Canadian initiatives for indigenous children and youth. The Indian Act, upon which the Canadian government has based its control over Aboriginals since 1876, is explained. Five national organizations representing various Aboriginal perspectives have reviewed the federal government's efforts to honour the World Summit's‘First Call for Children,’ and the emergent issues for at-risk children's programming on- and off-reserve are reviewed. The‘best interests of the child’ ideology that has guided the developed world's notions of children's rights has evolved in a cultural and value-laden context that must now be left for indigenous social scientists, children and youth around the globe to decide for themselves.     

More law and more rights: will children benefit?

This paper questions the view that children are just another disadvantaged group and that they need substantially more, or more varied, rights than they enjoy at present in the UK. It suggests there is a lack of appreciation of the consequences of current 'rights' advocacy, especially that which draws on the United Nations Convention on The Rights of The Child, and doubts whether a simple piling up of more rights will prove wise, workable or effective; rather it could become counter-productive and even generate a backlash from individuals and wider society. More fundamentally, It argues that the pursuit of greater benefits for children, as children , is ultimately divisive and segregating at a time when our society needs an integrating philosophy that emphasises the mutual and reciprocal nature of relationships between citizens. It proposes, instead, an approach to rights which emphasises shared interests and participation as key factors in improving the welfare of children as developing citizens.     

最低工资管制的就业效应分析

非线性规划分析表明,最低工资管制的就业后果不仅取决于最低工资管制本身, 还取决于外部监管环境,当监管环境强化到一定程度时,最低工资管制的就业冲击会扩大。基于粤闽两省439家企业调查数据的实证分析表明,2008年提高最低工资标准对农民工的就业冲击明显强于2007年,但对城镇劳动力没有造成明显强化的冲击。进一步分析证明,农民工就业冲击的扩大主要源于《劳动合同法》引起的监管环境的强化,而城镇劳动力就业冲击没有扩大主要源于二元就业制度对城镇劳动力利益的优先保护。这提醒我们,《劳动合同法》对就业的影响很可能会通过强化最低工资管制等其他管制措施的效果来间接实现。     

Looked after children's right to contact with birth parents: An Australian study

In Australia, there are more than 46 000 children in out-of-home care (OOHC). Most of these children have been in OOHC for more than 2 years. Similarly, there are more than 407 000 children in the United States and over 80 800 in England who are ‘looked after’ with approximately one third of these children being in OOHC for more than 2 years. This paper concerns ‘looked after’ children's rights to contact with their birth parents. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) requires child protection systems to recognize the rights of children to maintain contact with their families except where this is not in the child's ‘best interests’. In this paper, we report on a qualitative study conducted in Australia exploring legal and family support practitioners' perceptions of barriers to contact between children in OOHC and their birth parents. The thematic analysis identified four themes: These were as follows: a focus on systems driven responses; lack of cultural recognition and responsiveness; carers' disconnection from birth parents; and parents' exclusion. We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding and recognizing children's right to contact with birth parents.