In previous research the lack of usage of a child perspective and child participation has been a recurring theme. The purpose of this study is to examine the usage of a child perspective within social assistance where the target group is adults and the main goal of the work is to support households to self-sufficiency. This study’s aim is to further highlight the presence of a child perspective, child participation and how social workers collaborate with other units within matters concerning children. This qualitative study has used research interviews as it’s data collecting method, the empirical material consists of interviews with six social workers who all work within one social assistance unit at a social services office. The results show the difficulties of defining what it means to practice a child perspective within one’s work. It also puts focus on the dilemma of wanting to practice a child perspective and their increased participation, versus how the respondents view their task as social workers within social assistance. The conclusions of this study further raise a question on how children's participation and a child perspective can be integrated into the practical work of social assistance.

The purpose of this study was twofold. First, it aimed to present an argument for the inclusion of primary-age children's views in the decision-making process in primary schools. Second, it aimed to explore the potential of primary-age children to contribute to better decisions about their own schooling. The hypothesis is that primary-age children have worthwhile views of schooling that should be introduced into both classroom and school decision-making processes. Authoritarianism, moral development, childrenqs rights and active learning were explored in relation to child participation in decision-making. This study attempted to explore children's views of schooling from the viewpoints of the children themselves. Children kept diaries of school for one week and from these diaries an interview schedule was constructed to allow the exploration of their views. The study shows that primary-age children have views that can contribute legitimately and valuably to decision-making at both the classroom and school levels.

In the last two decades, increasingly more research has been conducted on the process of participation as a children’s right both nationally and internationally. This includes research on children’s participation within the family environment as well as with children who are placed into alternative care. Children’s participation within the field of child protection continues to demonstrate challenges for both children and those adults working with children in this environment. A child and youth care centre forms part of the broader field of child protection and represents a bounded system of dynamics especially with regard to the process of children’s participation. There continues to be various barriers with regard to children’s participation in general but especially for children who have been found in need of care and protection. This is largely linked to the emphasis being put on the vulnerabilities and needs of children who have been placed into alternative care. The general aim of the study was to qualitatively, through a case study design, explore and describe the nature of participation as a children’s right in the context of a child and youth care centre in the Western Cape. The case study was utilised in order to gain more insight into the nature of participation as a children’s right, based on the perceptions of the children, child care workers, social workers and professionals within the system. Thirteen semi structured individual interviews were held with the child participations. Prior to the interviews, a session was held with the children to discuss the purpose of the research and to allow them to become more aware of the concept of children’s participation. The children were asked to create a collage of their perception of children’s participation as a right. Two separate focus groups were held for the adult participants; one for the child care workers and the other for the social workers and professionals. Based on the findings of this qualitative study about the nature of children’s participation as perceived by both children and adults in a child and youth care centre, the article in Section B aims at highlighting those critical elements needed for the realisation of children’s participation within a context of child protection. / MSW (Child Protection), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The aim of the study on which this thesis is based was to gain an understanding of the life situation of street children in Kenya and to investigate how caring institutions care for these children.  A reflexive ethnographic approach was used to facilitate entry into the children’s sub-culture and the work contexts of the caregivers to better understand how the children live on the streets and how the caregivers work with the children. A fundamental aim of the research was to develop interventions to care; one of the reasons why we also used the interpretive description approach. Method and data source triangulation was used. Field notes, tape, video, and photography were used to record the data.  Participant observation, group discussions, individual interviews, home visits, key informant interviews, participatory workshops and clinical findings were used for data collection in Studies I and II.  In addition to observation, interviews were conducted with caregivers for study III, while written narratives from learners attending adult education developed and implemented during the research period provided data for study IV.  Study I indicated that food, shelter and education were the main concerns for the children and that they had strong social bonds and used support networks as a survival strategy.  Study II provided a deeper understanding of the street culture, revealing how the boys are organised, patterns of substance use, home spaces in the streets and networks of support. The boys indicated that they wanted to leave the streets but opposed being moved to existing institutions of care. A group home was therefore developed in collaboration with members of the category “begging boys”.  Study III indicated how the caregivers’ interactions with the children were crucial in children’s decisions to leave the streets, to be initiated into residential care, undergo rehabilitation and to be reintegrated into society.  Caregivers who attempted to use participatory approaches and took time to establish rapport were more successful with the children.  Study IV suggested that the composition of learners, course content grounded on research, caregivers’ reflections and discursive role of researchers and facilitators, all contributed to adult learning that transformed the learners’ perspectives and practice.

Society is obliged to intervene when children are harmed. The social services have an obligation to initiate an assessment for the children who are at risk of harm. During the assessment process, there are difficulties and obstacles that the social service workers  encounter in the work for the best interests of the child. The purpose of this study is to  illustrate the social service workers’ work with abused children (0-18 years) and their parents, in order to analyze obstacles and difficulties in the work for the Barnets bästa, (best interestsof the child) in childcare assessment. The study is based on four semi-structured interviews with social service workers from two larger municipalities that work in Swedish social services with child welfare inquiries. We were able to identify four specific difficulties which the social service workers experienced that affected the work with child assessment. These difficulties are the following: The police preliminary investigation, the meeting with childrenand parents, the workload and Handlingsutrymme (the room for maneuver). Finally, socialservice workers see the legislation as a complicating factor when it comes to working for the best interests of the child. The study then deepens the understanding of the result through an analysis based on Lipsky's theory of Street-level bureaucracy and organizational theory.

Syftet med studien har varit att undersöka hur barnets åsikter kommer till uttryck i familjerättens utredningar gällande vårdnad, boende och umgänge och på vilket sätt barnet görs delaktigt. Studiens empiri bestod av tolv vårdnadsutredningar som ingick som aktbilagor från domstolsbeslut från en större tingsrätt under mitten av 2020. Materialet undersöktes utifrån en kvalitativ innehållsmetod. Analysen av empirin gjordes med hjälp av Harts (1992) delaktighetsstege kombinerat med ett barndomssociologiskt perspektiv. Studien visar att barn oftast är delaktiga i en ganska låg nivå utifrån Harts (1992) delaktighetsstege. Barn begränsas av att delaktigheten sker genom vuxna på olika sätt eller att barn själva kan välja att inte vara delaktiga och därmed visa aktörskap. Studien visar också att vuxna spelar en stor roll för att möjliggöra för barn att vara delaktiga. Det är de vuxna som beslutar om delaktighet. Vidare visar studien att familjerättsutredaren i många fall går efter barnets vilja, antingen att det har framkommit i samtal med barnet eller att barnets åsikt har framkommit på annat sätt. / The aim of the study was to investigate how the child's views are expressed in family court investigations concerning custody, residence, and access. The empirical material of the study consisted of twelve custody investigations included as case files from court decisions from a major district court in mid-2020. The material was examined using a qualitative content method. The analysis of the empirical data was conducted using Hart's (1992) participation ladder combined with a childhood sociology perspective. The study shows that children are usually involved at a rather low level according to Hart's (1992) participation ladder. Children are limited by the fact that participation is done by adults in different ways or that children themselves can choose not to participate and thus show agency. The study also shows that adults play a major role in enabling children to be involved. It is the adults who decide on participation. Furthermore, the study shows that in many cases the family court mediator follows the child's wishes, either expressed in discussions with the child or the child's opinion expressed in other ways.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T14:31:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Viviane Aparecida da Silva.pdf: 1731175 bytes, checksum: b2f3ad37cb635c6274b6035c8e84af84 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-10-30 / This research aimed to understand the extent to which happens the participation and expression of children's cultures in a class of the new first year of elementary school. The investigation was conducted in a public school in the East area of Curitiba and was theoretically supported by studies of the Sociology of Childhood that has contributed to the understanding of children, exploring concepts that point to a conception of the child agent, competent and culture producer. The theoretical basis was complemented by guidance documents from the Ministry of Education and the National Council of Education for the implementation of the new first year, as well as critics of the curriculum. The methodology was the qualitative approach, with procedures including systematic observation, semi structured interviews, document analysis, and listen to the children, seeking to understand how they give sense to school experience. The study showed that traditional and new school models coexist in a controversial manner in the same space, and it was observed that the focus on body control; the fragmentation of disciplines and time and space; and the content transmitted by repetition cause suffocation of the participation and expression of children's cultures. From the data analysis, it was concluded that there are efforts to change the adult-centered culture, but what prevails in the new first year is the reproduction of a curriculum centralized in the voice and in the decisions of the teacher, going against the studies on childhood that point to an active, participatory, creative and curious conception of child that is able to develop their autonomy. This study intends to contribute to reflections on the social function of school education in the subject formation and in the challenge of implementing a new curriculum for the new first year / A presente pesquisa teve como objetivo entender em que medida acontece a participação e a expressão das culturas infantis em uma turma do novo primeiro ano do ensino fundamental. A investigação foi realizada numa escola pública da zona leste de Curitiba e tomou como amparo teórico os estudos da Sociologia da Infância, que têm contribuído para o entendimento sobre as crianças, explorando conceitos que apontam para uma concepção de criança agente, competente e produtora de cultura. A fundamentação teórica foi complementada por documentos orientadores do Ministério da Educação e do Conselho Nacional de Educação para a implantação do novo primeiro ano, e de críticos do currículo. A metodologia teve abordagem qualitativa, com procedimentos que incluíram observação sistemática, entrevistas semiestruturadas, análise documental e escuta das crianças, para compreender como buscam dar sentido à experiência escolar. O estudo desvelou que modelos escolares tradicionais e novos convivem conflituosamente no mesmo espaço, e permitiu observar que o foco no controle corporal; na fragmentação de disciplinas e de tempos e espaços; e no conteúdo transmitido por meio da repetição ocasionam um sufocamento da participação e da expressão das culturas infantis. A partir da análise dos dados, concluiu-se que há esforços para se mudar a cultura adultocêntrica, porém o que prevalece no novo primeiro ano é a reprodução de um currículo centralizado na voz e nas decisões do professor, negando os estudos sobre a infância que apontam para uma concepção de criança ativa, participativa, curiosa e criativa, com competência para desenvolver sua autonomia. Este estudo pretende contribuir para reflexões acerca da função social da escola na formação do sujeito e do desafio de se implantar um novo currículo para o novo primeiro ano

Remarkable progress with respect to the necessity of child participation has been observed in the Children's Act, act 38 of 2005. Article 10 of the Children's Act, act 38 of 2005, specifically provides for children‟s right to participate in any situation applicable to a child. Despite afore-mentioned progress in the legal field, the reality is that there are remarkable differences between children's rights to participate in society and society's experience of the role children play and the abilities they possess to do so. In this article the focus is on the responsibility of the social worker during the implementation of children's participation, according to the Children's act, act 38 of 2005. The successful implementation of children's participation by social workers ensures that the child is given a voice while important issues are being heard and discussed. This can actively contribute to the improvement of services offered to children and families with regard to effective intervention programmes and can ensure a positive outcome in terms of services provided. / Thesis (MSW (Forensic Practice))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Remarkable progress with respect to the necessity of child participation has been observed in the Children's Act, act 38 of 2005. Article 10 of the Children's Act, act 38 of 2005, specifically provides for children‟s right to participate in any situation applicable to a child. Despite afore-mentioned progress in the legal field, the reality is that there are remarkable differences between children's rights to participate in society and society's experience of the role children play and the abilities they possess to do so. In this article the focus is on the responsibility of the social worker during the implementation of children's participation, according to the Children's act, act 38 of 2005. The successful implementation of children's participation by social workers ensures that the child is given a voice while important issues are being heard and discussed. This can actively contribute to the improvement of services offered to children and families with regard to effective intervention programmes and can ensure a positive outcome in terms of services provided. / Thesis (MSW (Forensic Practice))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

It is a qualitative research, based on a case study, which aimed to understand what aspects of the school context interfere in the ways of social participation of children in the routines of early childhood education in a municipal school in the city of Estância/SE. Survey participants were 21, 05 years old, children of both sexes (12 girls and 09 boys) and 07 women. The materials used for the production of data was A4 paper, colored pencils, crayons and play dough, plus the following instruments: camera, notebook for field notes, audio recorder, audio recorder with computer, script observation and semi-structured interviews. Two semi-structured dating activities with children and three meetings of Focus Group with teachers were conducted. The data obtained from the field diary, transcripts of audios and drawings produced by children were analyzed, resulting in the following categories: (1) Disciplining; (2) Schooling; (3) Routinization; (4) Interaction; (5) Motivation; (6) Toys / games and (7) Environment. That done, drawings, photos and excerpts of transcripts or observations were separated to demonstrate aspects of the school environment that interfered in the ways of social participation of the children in school routines. Sought to triangulation of the data for presentation and understanding of the results. The results showed that disciplining managing early childhood education, with arbitrary rules, without meaning to children disrupted the interaction among peers and the teacher-child interaction. The schedules of institutional routine were not articulated thinking about the needs and different rhythms of learning of the children; environmental organization was not part of the routine; there is a lack of a space for the discussion and reflection of teaching practices between teachers working in the school; lack of family and community participation in the activities and planning of the educational institution; lack of training courses for teachers intended on expanding and updating their knowledge on child-rearing practices. Therefore believed to be essential to review the pedagogical practices, the environment and school routine. Also, make municipal level changes to meet the need of continuous formation of the school personnel, obtain the effective participation of the family and community in the educational institution, the appreciation and recognition of the teacher as the child's learning mediator. These aspects can be modified to be attuned to the needs and interests of children, making pedagogical practices undestanding for them. / Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa, baseada em um estudo de caso, que objetivou compreender quais aspectos do contexto escolar interferem nos modos de participação social de crianças nas rotinas da educação infantil de uma escola municipal da cidade de Estância/SE. Os participantes da pesquisa foram 21 crianças de ambos os sexos (12 meninas e 09 meninos), com 05 anos de idade e 07 mulheres. Os materiais utilizados para a produção de dados foram papel A4, lápis de cor, giz de cera e massa de modelar, além dos seguintes instrumentos: máquina fotográfica, caderno para as anotações de campo, gravador de áudio, computador com gravador de áudio, roteiro de observação e de entrevista semiestruturada. Foram realizados dois encontros semiestruturados de atividades com as crianças e três encontros de grupo focal com as professoras. Os dados obtidos através do diário de campo, das transcrições dos áudios e dos desenhos produzidos pelas crianças foram analisados, resultando nas seguintes categorias: (1) Disciplinarização; (2) Escolarização; (3) Rotinização; (4) Interação; (5) Motivação; (6) Brinquedos/brincadeiras e (7) Ambiente. Feito isso, foram separados desenhos, fotos e trechos das transcrições ou observações que demonstrassem os aspectos do contexto escolar que interferiram nos modos de participação social das crianças nas rotinas da escola. Buscou-se a triangulação dos dados para a apresentação e entendimento dos resultados. Os resultados demonstraram o disciplinamento gerindo a educação infantil, com regras arbitrárias, sem significado para as crianças e que atrapalharam a interação entre os pares, bem como a interação professora-criança. Os horários da rotina institucional não estavam articulados pensando nas necessidades e diferentes ritmos de aprender das crianças; a organização do ambiente não se mostrou parte integrante da rotina; há carência de um espaço para a discussão e reflexão das práticas pedagógicas entre as docentes que atuam na escola; ausência da participação familiar e da comunidade nas atividades e planejamentos da instituição educativa; falta de cursos de aperfeiçoamento para as professoras ampliarem e atualizarem seus conhecimentos sobre as práticas de educação infantil. Por isso, acredita-se ser fundamental rever as práticas pedagógicas, o ambiente e a rotina da escola. Também, fazer mudanças a nível municipal para suprir as necessidades de formação continuada dos profissionais da escola, obter a participação efetiva dos familiares e da comunidade na instituição educativa, a valorização e reconhecimento do professor enquanto mediador da aprendizagem da criança. Tais aspectos podem ser modificados para estar sintonizados com as necessidades e interesses das crianças, tornando as práticas pedagógicas mais significativas para elas.