<p>Birth registration is a fundamental key in ensuring several essential rights of the child; including the right to a name and a nationality, the right to education and health care, and protection from abuse and exploitation among others. The United Nation’s Convention on the Right of the Child establishes that the child shall be registered immediately after birth and have the right to a name and a nationality. A total of 22 % of the Dominican children under the age of five are lacking an official proof of their existence within the Dominican society and in the world. A Minor Field study was conducted during a period of two months in 2009 with the aim of clarifying what obstacles to birth registration exist in the South-western part of the Dominican Republic. This clarification will contribute to a wider understanding of the causes to non-registration and the birth registration process in the country. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with parents to unregistered children, civil registry officials and other relevant actors in the Dominican society. The findings of the study present a wide range of obstacles to birth registration and it is clear that the reasons behind non-registration in this region are numerous, complex and often inter-related. According to most parents, officials and other informants the main obstacle to birth registration was found to be the parents’ lack of a Dominican identification card, a <em>cédula</em>. The lack of awareness about the importance of being registered and neglect by the parents were two other significant barriers to birth registration. The Minor Field Study was conducted with the support of the child rights organisation Plan International - República Dominicana.</p> / <p>Registro de nacimiento es una de las claves más importantes para asegurar los derechos fundamentales del niño; derecho a un nombre y una nacionalidad, derecho a la educación, derecho a servicio de salud, protección contra el abuso y la explotación entre otras cosas. La Convención sobre los Derechos del Niño establece que el niño será inscripto inmediatamente después de su nacimiento y tendrá derecho a un nombre y una nacionalidad. Un total de 22 % de los niños Dominicanos menores de cinco años de edad carece de una prueba oficial de su existencia dentro de la sociedad Dominicana y en el mundo. Un estudio de campo (Minor Field Study) fue realizado durante un período de dos meses en 2009 con el objetivo de aclarar cuáles son los obstáculos para el registro de nacimiento en la parte Sur-occidental de la República Dominicana. Esta aclaración contribuirá a una mayor comprensión de las causas de la no inscripción y el proceso de inscripción de nacimientos en el país. Entrevistas semi-estructuradas fueron realizadas con padres de niños sin registrar, oficiales del Estado civil y otros actores en la sociedad Dominicana. Los resultados de este estudio presentan varios obstáculos para la inscripción de nacimiento y es evidente que las razones de la no inscripción en esta región son numerosas, complejas e interrelacionadas. Según la mayoría de los padres, oficiales del Estado civil y otros informantes el principal obstáculo para el registro de nacimientos se encontró en la falta de cédula de los padres, un problema que muchas veces pasa de una generación a otra. La falta de conciencia sobre la importancia de estar registrado y la negligencia de los padres fueron otros dos obstáculos importantes para el registro de nacimientos. El estudio fue realizado con el apoyo de la organización non gubernamental Plan International- República Dominicana.</p>

A qualitative study is presented concerning children’s participation in the local decisionmaking in Swedish municipalities. The study also aims at finding out what are considered to be successful factors and obstacles connected to the implementation of children’s participation in local decision-making. The study contains a summary of the convention on the rights of the child, focusing on article 12, as well as previous research findings concerning children’s participation and factors enabling respectively hindering participation. Method has been interviews with a purposive sample of politicians, civil employees and children from municipalities regarded as prominent in their work with children’s participation. Either through a formal or informal implementation model. The results have been analysed in the light of Roger Hart’s eight-step “ladder of children’s participation“, where position one is considered Manipulation from adults and position eight is Child-initiated and shared decisions with adults. The results show that the investigated municipalities are considering the voice of the children in the local decision-making. Depending on different variables in focus, the position on Hart’s ladder varies between four and seven. The study concludes that successful implementation of children’s participation in local decision-making commands parallel work with organizational structures, systematic and adult’s attitudes.

In 2006 there was a change in LMA (1994:37) that clarified the division of responsibility be-tween the Migration Board and the municipalities, concerning unaccompanied children. The social services should now be utmost responsible for the housing and care of these children, to assure that they gain the same standards and rights as all other children. The aim of this essay has been to examine how the division of responsibility has influenced the work of the social services and how they interpret their responsibility for the unaccompanied children. How do the social services investigate and make decisions concerning these children? Do these chil-dren have the same rights as other children? To answer these questions a legal study was made, followed by qualitative research interviews with four social services that receive unac-companied children. The study was made from a legal sociologist perspective, which involves analyzing the results from the interviews with the legal results, together with earlier research on unaccompanied children. The results show that the division of responsibility still is indis-tinct and that the investigations concerning these children often are brief and simplified. In two of the interviewed municipalities the view was that unaccompanied children did not have the right to efforts according to SoL (2001:453), which in practice means that the unaccom-panied children are discriminated.

In 2006 there was a change in LMA (1994:37) that clarified the division of responsibility be-tween the Migration Board and the municipalities, concerning unaccompanied children. The social services should now be utmost responsible for the housing and care of these children, to assure that they gain the same standards and rights as all other children. The aim of this essay has been to examine how the division of responsibility has influenced the work of the social services and how they interpret their responsibility for the unaccompanied children. How do the social services investigate and make decisions concerning these children? Do these chil-dren have the same rights as other children? To answer these questions a legal study was made, followed by qualitative research interviews with four social services that receive unac-companied children. The study was made from a legal sociologist perspective, which involves analyzing the results from the interviews with the legal results, together with earlier research on unaccompanied children. The results show that the division of responsibility still is indis-tinct and that the investigations concerning these children often are brief and simplified. In two of the interviewed municipalities the view was that unaccompanied children did not have the right to efforts according to SoL (2001:453), which in practice means that the unaccom-panied children are discriminated.

Author: Martina Holgersson och Pranvera VishajSupervisor: Matts MosessonTitle: “A study about how Social Services understand and put child perspective into practice”The purpose of this study is to describe and understand how the child perspective is perceived and put into practice by the Social Services. Our questions were: “How is the child perspective perceived by the Social Services?” and “In what way is the child perspective put into practice in the Social Services’ work?” Our approach to knowledge is based on the hermeneutic tradition of knowledge. The essay rests upon semi-structured interviews with ten Social Services’ workers. We have analysed our results from the theory of actions where we have applied analytical ideas; the five P’s and actor and objective perspective. Our main findings in the study were; the Social Services’ workers regarded the child perspective as a complex and hard to define concept. Furthermore, the Social Services’ workers considered to think the fundamental apprehension of the child perspective; is children’s well-fare and protection from abuse. From which angle they choose to see the child perspective; the child’s, the parents or the professionals vary. The Social Services’ workers experienced the children were being implicated in the work. The reports are written from both angels, children and parents point of view. A special interest and importance from the Social Services’ workers were children being involved through-out the inquiry process as at decision-making. The child perspective doesn’t have to be crucial at a settlement. Based on our findings and our theory we can draw the conclusion that the scope the Social Services’ workers have in their work can influence how the child perspective is perceived and carried out and how it should be applied.

Birth registration is a fundamental key in ensuring several essential rights of the child; including the right to a name and a nationality, the right to education and health care, and protection from abuse and exploitation among others. The United Nation’s Convention on the Right of the Child establishes that the child shall be registered immediately after birth and have the right to a name and a nationality. A total of 22 % of the Dominican children under the age of five are lacking an official proof of their existence within the Dominican society and in the world. A Minor Field study was conducted during a period of two months in 2009 with the aim of clarifying what obstacles to birth registration exist in the South-western part of the Dominican Republic. This clarification will contribute to a wider understanding of the causes to non-registration and the birth registration process in the country. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with parents to unregistered children, civil registry officials and other relevant actors in the Dominican society. The findings of the study present a wide range of obstacles to birth registration and it is clear that the reasons behind non-registration in this region are numerous, complex and often inter-related. According to most parents, officials and other informants the main obstacle to birth registration was found to be the parents’ lack of a Dominican identification card, a cédula. The lack of awareness about the importance of being registered and neglect by the parents were two other significant barriers to birth registration. The Minor Field Study was conducted with the support of the child rights organisation Plan International - República Dominicana. / Registro de nacimiento es una de las claves más importantes para asegurar los derechos fundamentales del niño; derecho a un nombre y una nacionalidad, derecho a la educación, derecho a servicio de salud, protección contra el abuso y la explotación entre otras cosas. La Convención sobre los Derechos del Niño establece que el niño será inscripto inmediatamente después de su nacimiento y tendrá derecho a un nombre y una nacionalidad. Un total de 22 % de los niños Dominicanos menores de cinco años de edad carece de una prueba oficial de su existencia dentro de la sociedad Dominicana y en el mundo. Un estudio de campo (Minor Field Study) fue realizado durante un período de dos meses en 2009 con el objetivo de aclarar cuáles son los obstáculos para el registro de nacimiento en la parte Sur-occidental de la República Dominicana. Esta aclaración contribuirá a una mayor comprensión de las causas de la no inscripción y el proceso de inscripción de nacimientos en el país. Entrevistas semi-estructuradas fueron realizadas con padres de niños sin registrar, oficiales del Estado civil y otros actores en la sociedad Dominicana. Los resultados de este estudio presentan varios obstáculos para la inscripción de nacimiento y es evidente que las razones de la no inscripción en esta región son numerosas, complejas e interrelacionadas. Según la mayoría de los padres, oficiales del Estado civil y otros informantes el principal obstáculo para el registro de nacimientos se encontró en la falta de cédula de los padres, un problema que muchas veces pasa de una generación a otra. La falta de conciencia sobre la importancia de estar registrado y la negligencia de los padres fueron otros dos obstáculos importantes para el registro de nacimientos. El estudio fue realizado con el apoyo de la organización non gubernamental Plan International- República Dominicana.

The purpose of this project is to study the women involved in the SOS Children’s Villages; the influence of the association on their views on life, as seen from a human-rights and a religious perspective. Questions such as why they chose to work with the association and what it gives them to do so are treated in this study. My goal has been to study and present different aspects of something so important, but yet so unfamiliar. The method used in this project is minor field studies, which means visiting the villages, living with the families and observing their daily lives. The means of acquiring the information necessary for this study is by qualitative interviews with the mothers. A theoretical framework has been used as a complement to the study, and it is also used to bring greater understanding to the SOS mothers and how they have shaped their lives. My ambition with this essay is to bring out their individual experiences on how they view their own lives at present and what meaning life has given them. I have used seven of the 14 interviews conducted. The outcome shows that several factors play important roles as to why the mothers decided to work with the association. Such factors were socioeconomic and sociopsyhologic factors. Other conclusions that were drawn after this field trip were that the women are very vulnerable to the social situation in Lebanon. They need someone to support them since the men are the primary providers. If the women do not find someone to marry they need to find another source for provision and the SOS children’s Association is one way to go. The sense of Coherence that these women had was indeed strong, they felt meaningfulness in what they did, they had comprehended the situations at hand and could manage the situations as predictable, and they have the confidence to know that everything will work out in the best way possible. / Uppsatsen har givits ut som bok 2009 med titeln: "Lebanese SOS Children's Villages: Stories of the village mothers" av VDM Verlag, Saarbrücken.

Αυτή η εργασία έχει σαν σκοπό να παρουσιάσει αρχικά τη Διεθνή Σύμβαση για τα Δικαιώματα των Παιδιών (για να δούμε τις προσπάθειες που έχουν γίνει παγκοσμίως όσο και ελλαδικά για την ύπαρξη νομοθετικού πλαισίου που κατοχυρώνει τα δικαιώματα των παιδιών) και σε αντιπαραβολή θα υπάρξουν αναφορές των διεθνών οργανισμών για την κατάσταση των παιδιών στην Ελλάδα αφού προηγουμένως αναφέρουμε λίγα λόγια για το έργο κάθε οργάνωσης μέχρι σήμερα. Αυτό είναι μια καλή ευκαιρία για να δούμε την ουσιαστική διαφορά που υπάρχει ανάμεσα στη θεωρεία και στην πράξη. Θα περιοριστούμε στις ανάγκες των παιδιών που ζουν στην Ελλάδα και θα προσπαθήσουμε να απεικονίσουμε την πραγματική κατάσταση όλων των παιδιών που ζουν στην Ελλάδα, ανεξάρτητα από κάθε μορφή διάκρισης που πιθανόν να αντιμετωπίζουν αυτά τα παιδιά στην ένταξη τους στην ελληνική κοινωνία. / -

In der Kinderheilkunde kommt es gelegentlich zu einem ethischen Konflikt zwischen Kindeswohl und Kindeswillen, wenn Kinder eine medizinisch indizierte Behandlung nachdrücklich ablehnen. Kann es in einer solchen Situation gerechtfertigt sein, das Kind zu einer Behandlung zu zwingen? Zur Beantwortung dieser Frage fehlte es bislang an medizinethischen Untersuchungen, die den Gehalt dieser beiden Begriffe sowie ihren Zusammenhang systematisch untersuchen.   In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde eine solche systematische Analyse der rechtlichen und ethischen Voraussetzungen der Begriffe Selbstbestimmung, Kindeswohl und Kindeswille in der Medizin vorgenommen sowie eine qualitativ-empirische Untersuchung in Form eines Faktoriellen Survey durchgeführt, um die praktische Relevanz der Fragestellung zu prüfen. Dazu wurde in Kooperation mit der Ärztekammer Niedersachsen eine repräsentative Stichprobe niedersächsischer Kinderärztinnen und Kinderärzte befragt. Es wurde untersucht, ob die Problematik in der Praxis der Kinderheilkunde eine Rolle spielt und ob Kinderärzte der Ansicht sind, dass der Kindeswille berücksichtigt werden müsse und auch ausreichend berücksichtigt werde. Weiterhin wurde geprüft, welche Kriterien dafür als relevant angesehen werden.  Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass ein solcher Konflikt zwischen Kindeswohl und Kindeswille in der Praxis nicht selten vorkommt und von Kinderärzten als Dilemma wahrgenommen wird. Die Kinderärzte halten es mehrheitlich für notwendig, den Kindeswillen schon bei Kindern zwischen 8 und 14 Jahren zu respektieren, auch wenn dieser dem Elternwillen widerspricht. Dies wird bisher in der rechtlichen Regelung nicht abgebildet. Auch konnte als problematisch herausgearbeitet werden, dass die Selbstbestimmungsfähigkeit Minderjähriger bisher ausschließlich anhand der kognitiven Fähigkeiten und des Alters, nicht jedoch an Hand anderer Reifefaktoren beurteilt wird. Entgegen der bisher im Recht vertretenen Auffassung, dass Minderjährige unter 14 Jahren einwilligungsunfähig sind, wird es in Zukunft notwendig sein, den Kindeswillen in der Medizin stärker zu berücksichtigen. Dies wird auch gestützt durch das in Artikel 12 die UN-Kinderrechtskonvention festgestellte Recht von Kindern auf eine angemessene Berücksichtigung der eigenen Meinung. Die Achtung vor dem Willen des Kindes ist notwendige Voraussetzung zur Entwicklung zu einem selbstbestimmten Erwachsenen.

The dissertation assesses how the state is building the relationships with the child as an individual who has rights. It obtains knowledge how children as a social group and as individuals are supported by Lithuanian social policy. The study reveals the construction of one of the main contexts of humanistic pedagogies, when in the analysis of relationships between children and adults children are in the centre. Research aim is to ground theoretically and to asses empirically the meaning of the social-educational contexts of child’s rights and policy in development of understanding of Lithuanian welfare state and to demonstrate it as a paradigm of new knowledge. This is an interdisciplinary qualitative study based on a postmodern paradigm of phenomenology which analyse social educational contexts of child’s policy and rights in the development of Lithuanian welfare state in the first decade of Independence 1990-2001 and compares with six OECD countries: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom. The analysis is based on Esping-Andersen's typology of welfare states. The study has reveled that the pattern of Lithuanian welfare regime does not correspond the exact regime in Esping-Andersen's typology of welfare states from the perspective of children's policy. The development of Lithuanian children's policy demonstrates lack of understanding of a child as an individual and creates a weak background for child-oriented social-educational reconstructions. The study has... [to full text]