Children's participation in ethnographic research: Issues of power and representation

The recognition of children's social agency and active participation in research has significantly changed children's position within the human and social sciences and led to a weakening of taken‐for‐granted assumptions found in more conventional approaches to child research. In order to hear the voices of children in the representation of their own lives it is important to employ research practices such as reflexivity and dialogue. These enable researchers to enter into children's ‘cultures of communication’. Drawing on detailed examples from an ethnographic study on child health and self‐care, the article examines issues of power, voice and representation central to the discussion of children's participation.     

Representation of children's views in court hearings about custody and parental visitations — A comparison between what children wanted and what the courts ruled

PurposeFollowing the UN convention on the rights of children, a shift in policy towards greater emphasis on child participation in child protection case processing has occurred. A growing body of research has emerged concerning participation processes in child protection cases and the experiences of children in child protection cases. Very few studies have looked into if and when children get what they want, however. The aim of this study is to assess children's views about living arrangements and visitations in dependency court hearings and to compare these views with the rulings of courts.MethodThe study uses a retrospective cohort design. Cases where child welfare board rulings are in line with the wishes of children are compared to cases where rulings differ from the wishes of children. Data were collected from regional social welfare board archives. The study included 151 cases that were randomly drawn from a total population of 2481 cases. Simple and multivariate logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with the rulings being in accord with the child's wishes in each sample case.ResultsA child advocate was appointed in almost 95% of the cases (n = 142). Fifty-nine percent of the children did not want a change in care. Rulings about care were in line with the wishes of the child in 39% of the cases. Rulings about care were most likely to be what the child wanted, if the child was presently living in public care and did not want to move. Children wanted more visitations with their mothers in 60.5% of the cases and with their fathers in 39.8% of the cases. Whether children wanted more visitations with their mothers was associated with more visitations being granted. What a child wanted was not associated with the ruling on visitations with the child's father.ConclusionThe impact of children's views on visitations on dependency court rulings depends on what a child wants and how these desires coincide with what is proposed by child protection services. Children's views can be quite effective in blocking certain decisions but are less effective if the child requested a specific change. If a child does not want to stay with his or her birth parents, then the odds that the birth parents will be granted custody is minimal.     

CHILD CARE AND POVERTY IN SOUTH AFRICA

This article draws on ethnographic research with children and their caregivers to explore the interaction between poverty and the nature and quality of child care in a resource-poor urban community in South Africa. The authors attend to issues such as mobility and “family fragmentation,” the role of the extended family and other networks, and children's contributions to their own and others’ care, all matters that provoke particular concern in the context of HIV/AIDS. The research challenges some of the more conventional interpretations on these matters by pointing to the continuities children experience in what can appear a disrupted care setting as well as the positive aspects of children's involvement in care. It also supports the case for a closer look at men's participation in various child-care roles in a climate where they are often dismissed as absent or unemployed and therefore non-contributory. Future research and policy on child care would benefit from the conceptual approach adopted across this work, which employs a relational lens and encompasses the dynamic contexts in which care is experienced and performed.     

Parental substance misuse and statutory child protection in England: Risk factors and outcomes

Parental substance misuse is a significant child welfare issue and associated with increased risk of child maltreatment. The aim of the present study was to understand what social care outcomes children who live with parental substance misuse have, and to assess factors associated with those social care outcomes over a two-year period. The paper reports on a retrospective longitudinal study of 299 children all living with parental substance misuse and referred to one local authority in England. Data were collected from children's social work case files about procedural social care outcomes and factors which may be associated with those outcomes. Using cluster analysis, a new typology of children's longitudinal trajectories through the children's social care system was developed, consisting of five distinct types. Analysis indicated that some children received too little intervention from children's social care despite ongoing concerns, while other children were potentially unnecessarily caught up in the social care system. Factors associated with children having the poorest outcomes were: caregiver instability resulting from substance misuse, parenting capacity and household instability. The study's findings indicate that some children who live with parental substance misuse are at significant risk of harm, but others are not and may be better supported through non-statutory services such as early help.     

Child welfare supervised children's participation in center-based early care and education

Research suggests that early care and education (ECE) services, particularly center-based ECE, may help prevent child maltreatment and also mitigate some of the negative developmental outcomes associated with child maltreatment. There is also preliminary evidence to suggest that ECE could reduce the likelihood that maltreatment allegations will be substantiated by child welfare authorities and/or result in children being placed in out-of-home care. However, little is known about rates of ECE participation among children receiving child welfare services, nor the factors that determine ECE participation for this population. Data from the first wave of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Wellbeing II, a nationally representative sample of children referred to the United States (U.S.) child welfare system (CWS) for suspected maltreatment, were used to measure the frequency with which 0–5 year olds participate in center-based ECE. Additionally, logistic regression analyses explored the effects of maltreatment type, substantiation, and children's living arrangements (i.e., with parents, relatives, or foster parents) on this outcome, controlling for a range of child and family covariates associated with ECE participation in the general population. Results indicate that less than a third of 0–5 year olds receiving child welfare services in the U.S. are participating in center-based ECE. Among the various categories of maltreatment type measured, being reported to the CWS for suspected physical abuse was associated with decreased odds of center-based ECE participation; however, other types of maltreatment, substantiation, and living arrangement were unrelated to center-based ECE participation. These findings suggest that, despite recent efforts by the U.S. federal government to promote ECE participation for CWS-supervised children, the vast majority of young children in the U.S. CWS are not receiving center-based ECE, and physically abused children are particularly disadvantaged when it comes to accessing these services.     

THE EFFECTS OF SINGLE MOTHERS' WELFARE USE AND EMPLOYMENT DECISIONS ON CHILDREN'S COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

We examine the effects of single mothers' welfare use and employment decisions on children's short‐run cognitive development, as measured by their preschool standardized math test scores. We control for three mechanisms through which these decisions might affect children's outcomes: direct monetary benefits, parental time invested in the child, and nonpecuniary benefits from in‐kind transfer programs such as Medicaid. We employ a correction function approach and control for state‐fixed effects to address the endogenous nature of welfare participation and employment decisions. Our estimates suggest that although each additional quarter of either mother's employment or welfare use results in only a small increase in a child's standardized math test score, the total effects after several quarters are sizable. We allow mothers' decisions to have varying effects on attainment by children's observed innate ability and by the intensity of welfare use and employment. A child who has the mean level of observed innate ability with a mother who simultaneously worked and used welfare in all 20 quarters after childbirth experiences an 8.25 standardized‐point increase in standardized scores. The positive impact is more pronounced for the more disadvantaged children, who tend to be born to mothers with low Armed Forces Qualification Test scores, or have lower birth weights. We also examine the effects using timing of employment and welfare use, as well as children's maturity and gender. (JEL I3, J13, J22)     

Children with problems: focusing on everyday life

This article presents the results of interviews with 24 children who had been in contact with child welfare and protection, school counselling or the child psychiatric clinic in a suburban community in Norway. The interview was constructed to cover the children's daily life and positive and negative life events, as well as their contact with the child welfare services. The results showed that the majority of the children lived rather structured lives within a variety of family constellations. Many children had little information about their contact with the child welfare services, and consequently had difficulties evaluating the effects of the assistance received. Their confidence seemed to depend upon the personal relationship established with the counsellor. The results can be used to counterbalance the bias from ‘problem- or deviant-oriented' research by focusing on competence and resources to get a realistic representation of client children's lives. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Foster Parents Speak: Preferred Characteristics of Foster Children and Experiences in the Role of Foster Parent

Foster parents play a pivotal role in the child welfare system. A study that employed focus groups with foster parents was conducted at a private foster care agency with the initial purpose of understanding the characteristics of foster children that foster parents both preferred and not preferred. In the qualitative research tradition, their answers addressed the topic of characteristics and expanded to provide additional data on their experience as foster parents. Using theme analysis, the following themes were generated: foster care as service; foster parents' preferences of foster children's characteristics; foster parents do not feel valued or trusted; increased caseworker and foster parent partnership; problems in the foster care and related systems; and focus group as support. Implications for research and practice are forwarded.     

Participatory action research (PAR) with children and youth: An integrative review of methodology and PAR outcomes for participants,organizations, and communities

Due to an increasing emphasis on children's rights, children's participation in studies about social issues has become a trend. The research community has been liberally utilizing the concept of participatory action research (PAR). Thus, oversimplification of children's involvement and misinterpretation of their voices has become a concern for many scholars. This review is an attempt to support the critical conversation about PAR, especially in regard to (1) its methodological features, as well as (2) outcomes of genuine children's participation in PAR for children and youth themselves, social service organizations, and communities. Forty-five articles were selected and coded for analysis in accordance with integrative review methodology. PAR with children and youth showed evidence of positive outcomes for children, organizations, and communities. However, PAR with children and youth still faces the challenges of involving very young participants, providing meaningful participation opportunities and addressing power differences between children and adults in diverse cultural contexts. Discussion of methodological challenges and review of critical outcomes of the PAR approach is provided.     

Agency policy and the participation of children and young people in the child protection process

This article explores agency policy in relation to children's participation in the child protection process. This was done by examining policy documents and conference minutes and by interviewing social workers and conference chairs working in child protection in Wales. Issues and dilemmas surrounding the participation of children and young people in the child protection process are identified and examined. The lack of children's more direct participation was noted, but many agencies were taking action to inform themselves of children's views indirectly. Advocacy was being more frequently used, and highly valued where it was available, but did raise some role dilemmas. The essentially child‐unfriendly nature of child protection processes (particularly the conferences) was identified as a significant barrier to promoting children's voices. The contradiction of trying to promote children's direct participation in a process that is inherently not geared towards their direct involvement was noted. The total lack of children's input into service planning for child protection services was seen as significant. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the margin? Residential child care in Scotland and Finland

Situated on the margins of Europe, Scotland and Finland are small countries which share similar demographic and economic profiles. In many European countries, residential child care can also be considered to be ‘on the margin’ of child care provision; there is ambivalence about residential care and a view that it should be used as a last resort. This paper examines systems and practices of residential care in Scotland and Finland, locating these in the context of wider child welfare policy in both countries. The underpinning principles of child welfare provision in both countries are similar—based on children's rights and primarily family-focused. In both countries there are also similar concerns about the fragmentation of child care provision and the cost of residential services. However, there are also important differences relating to child welfare provision and the use of residential care. In Finland, overall numbers of children in residential care are much greater than in Scotland; the age profile of these children and young people is very different; and the two countries vary markedly in the use of secure accommodation and custody. This comparative analysis suggests new ways of understanding the similarities and difference in the use of residential care in the two countries. It highlights the continuing challenge to develop residential care as a positive and integral part of a continuum of care services.     

I agreed to go because........examining the Agency of Children within a phenomenon conceptualised as trafficking in Ghana

The legal and policy framework on child trafficking is dismissive of children's agency and regards them as vulnerable personalities. This paper examines the scope of children's agency in their transportation to other communities for fishing in Ghana. Using a phenomenological design, 17 child returnees' views were elicited on their movement for fishing activities. Findings revealed that children's agentive capabilities progressed primarily from consent giving to negotiation. Highlighting the relational and material context within which children's agency unfolds, the study suggests that it is erroneous to generally ascribe the discursive label of ‘innocence’ to children who are considered as trafficked.     

An Appraisal of Fathers' Perspectives on Fatherhood and Barriers to Their Child Welfare Involvement

The present study provides insight into the extent and rationale of fathers' involvement with their children and the child welfare system. This qualitative study explored 12 child welfare–involved fathers' perceptions of fatherhood and factors that facilitate and inhibit case planning involvement. The findings indicate that most fathers strongly desired to stay involved with their children but felt they needed to overcome social workers' negativity, unfair agency policies and practices, and economic difficulties in order to complete their case plan goals and remain in their children's lives. Recommendations are provided for child welfare policy, practice, and research.     

Prevalence,experiences, and characteristics of children and youth who enter foster care through voluntary placement agreements

A voluntary foster care placement (sometimes referred to as a voluntary placement agreement) is an agreement, entered into without court involvement, between a state or county child welfare agency and a child's parents to place a child into out-of-home placement. When a child enters foster care through this type of placement, state and federal programs that cover children who enter child welfare due to a court order become the custodians of the voluntarily-placed-child's placement, care, and supervision. In this cross-sectional, exploratory study, data from the Adoption and Foster Care Reporting System (AFCARS) was used to examine the characteristics and experiences of children who enter foster care through a voluntary foster care agreement, and to compare them with those of children who enter foster care through a court order. Findings indicate that children who are placed through a voluntary placement agreement differ from children who enter through a court order in their personal characteristics, as well as in their placement settings, length of placement, and manner of discharge from foster care. This study provides a baseline for future research into this area of child welfare practice.     

Parental involvement in children's residential treatment: From preplacement to aftercare

Policy reforms and empirical evidence supporting family focused care for children have increased parental involvement in children's residential treatment. Reasons for encouraging family involvement in children's out-of-home care and factors that inhibit parents from participating in children's residential care are outlined. Methods used by treatment facilities to encourage family participation in children's preplacement, treatment, and aftercare stages of placement are reviewed. Important questions nd research necessary to increase parental involvement in children's residential treatment are identified.     

Young children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors after mothers exit welfare: Comparisons with children of non-welfare mothers

Although not part of its stated aims, current welfare legislation is assumed to benefit children through increased parental employment and self-sufficiency. Research findings on the extent to which parental welfare participation improves child well-being are inconclusive. This study investigates the behavioral outcomes of young children whose mothers have received TANF using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 2169). Controlling for maternal demographic characteristics, current financial status, and health risks, we found that the difference between children's externalizing behaviors in families of former TANF recipients relative to children of mothers who had never been on welfare decreased the longer mothers had been off welfare. However, overall, externalizing behaviors were significantly higher among children of former TANF recipients relative to children whose mothers had never received welfare. The findings suggest that ensuring healthy development for children requires long-term supports to help mothers as they transition off welfare.     

Participation for children exposed to domestic violence? Social workers' approaches and children's strategies

This article explores social workers' approaches to children exposed to domestic violence and children's strategies in encounters with these professionals in the context of family law proceedings. Investigator approaches as well as child strategies are reconstructed from children's narratives. Furthermore, possible links between the social worker's approach described by a particular child, and the child's own strategies are outlined. Participation can offer children validation of their experiences and support their recovery after exposure to violence. However, it is suggested that it seems to be a challenging task for social workers to both validate children's experiences of violence and simultaneously offer them participation in the investigation process.     

Instability in patchworks of child care when moving from welfare to work

We use longitudinal, qualitative interview data collected from 38 initially welfare‐reliant women in Cleveland, Ohio to examine the factors driving instability in child‐care arrangements when women transitioned from welfare to work. Grounded theory analysis revealed that decisions about care were circumscribed by scarce social and economic resources, women went to extraordinary lengths to patch together arrangements that typically involved multiple providers, relative care was central to patchworks of care, and patchworks of child care were often highly unstable. These complex arrangements and their instability were influenced by mothers’ desires to find the most suitable arrangements for their children within resource and job constraints, dissatisfaction with providers, difficulties accessing subsidies, and changes in provider availability. Findings suggest that policymakers must consider instability in patchworks of multiple child‐care providers as they consider alternatives for meeting low‐wage working women's and children's needs for safe, affordable, accessible, and enriching nonmaternal child care.     

Collocating FQHC and addiction treatment at Damian

If leaders of substance use treatment programs that work with at‐risk children and families have often seen themselves at cross‐purposes with child welfare and criminal justice agencies, there is growing evidence of greater cooperation. The director of an innovative women and children's treatment program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill made a pitch for coordinated and family‐centered care in a webinar presentation last week, using her agency's experience as an example.