Synopses & Reviews
The 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has inspired advocates and policy makers across the globe, injecting children's rights terminology into various public and private arenas. Children's right to participate in decision-making processes affecting their lives is the acme of the Convention and its central contribution to the children's rights discourse. At the same time the participation right presents enormous challenges in its implementation. Laws, regulations and mechanisms addressing children's right to participate in decision-making processes affecting their lives have been established in many jurisdictions across the globe. Yet these worldwide developments have only rarely been accompanied with empirical investigations. The effectiveness of various policies in achieving meaningful participation for children of different ages, cultures and circumstances have remained largely unproven empirically. Therefore, with the growing awareness of the importance of evidence-based policies, it becomes clear that without empirical investigations on the implementation of children's right to participation it is difficult to promote their effective inclusion in decision making.
This book provides a much-needed, first broad portrayal of how child participation is implemented in practice today. Bringing together 19 chapters written by prominent authors from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and Israel, the book includes descriptions of innovating programs that engage children and youth in decision-making processes, as well as insightful findings regarding what children, their families, and professionals think about these programs. Beyond their contribution to the empirical evidence on ways children engage in decision-making processes, the book's chapters contribute to the theoretical development of the meaning of "participation", "citizenship", "inclusiveness", and "relational rights" in regards to children and youth. There is no matching to the book's scope both in terms of the diversity of jurisdictions that it covers as well as the breadth of subjects. The book's chapters include experiences of child participation in special education, child protection, juvenile justice, restorative justice, family disputes, research, and policy making.
About the Author
Tali Gal, PhD, is Associate Professor of Criminology, University of HaifaBenedetta Faedi Duramy, JSD, is Associate Professor, Golden Gate University School of Law
Table of Contents
IntroductionTali Gal and Benedetta Faedi Duramy
1. A Feminist Perspective on Children and Law: From Objectification to Relational Subjectivity
Laura A. Rosenbury
Part I. Child participation in education and research settings
2. Inclusion and participation in special education processes in Ontario, Canada
Mona Paré
3. Implementing the principle of child participation: Pupil's participation in placement committees in Israel
Eran Uziely
4. Children and Young People's Participation in Research
Nigel Thomas
Part II. Child participation in family disputes
5. Implementation of Article 12 in Family Law Proceedings in Ireland and New Zealand: Lessons Learned and Messages for Going Forward
Aisling Parkes
6. Judicial Interviews of Children in Canada's Family Courts: Growing Acceptance But Still Controversial
Nicholas Bala, Rachel Birnbaum, and Francine Cyr
7. Children's Participation in Israeli Family Courts: An Account of an Ongoing Learning Process
Tamar Morag, Yoa Sorek, and Anat Inbar
Part III. Participatory mechanisms for children at risk
8. Inclusive and Respectful Relationships as the Basis for Child Inclusive Policies and Practice: The Experience of Children in Out-of-Home Care in Australia
Sharon Bessel
9. Child and Family Team Meetings: The Need for Youth Participation in Educational Success
Jodi Hall, Joan Pennell, and RV Rikard
10. Teen experiences of exclusion, inclusion and participation in child protection and youth justice in Vermont
Gale Burford and Sarah Gallagher
11. Professionals' Conceptions of "Children," "Childhood" and "Participation" in an Australian Family Relationship Services Sector Organisation
Anne Graham, Robyn Fitzgerald, and Judith Cashmore
Part IV. Child participation in the criminal process
12. Teen Courts: Children Participating in Justice
Lynne Marie Kohm
13. The Developmental Stakes of Youth Participation in American Juvenile Court
Emily Buss
14. Benefits of Restorative Reentry Circles for Children of Incarcerated Parents in Hawai'i
Lorenn Walker, Cheri Tarutani, and Diana McKibben
Part V. Child participation in the public sphere
15. Face to face: children and young people's right to participate in public decision-making
Chelsea Marshall, Bronagh Byrne, and Laura Lundy
16. Addressing the challenges of children and young people's participation: considering time and space
E. Kay M. Tisdall
17. Child Participation in Monitoring the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Tara M. Collins
18. Children's Participation in Haiti
Benedetta Faedi Duramy
19. Conclusion - From Social Exclusion to Child-Inclusive Policies: Toward an Ecological Model of Child Participation
Tali Gal