This thesis focuses on the problem of learning processes in an organization that has decided to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). It is based on an assumption that there is interdependency between learning about the CRC and its implementation. The aim is to understand the conditions for individual learning and group learning in the organization. The empirical material consists of 52 interviews, notes and written material from the UN, the Swedish government, and regional levels. The research design is qualitative and the method used is abduction and retroduction. Sensitizing concepts have also been used. The regional context is a county council which has decided to implement the CRC by educating a "pilot-group", and whose task will be to integrate the CRC in the organization. The theoretical frame is mainly constructivistic; learning is an "inside-out" process. It is the individual who does the learning, but these individuals meet in the pilot-group and create knowledge based on their own experiences. The most significant results point out that learning about the CRC is a prerequisite for implementation. Once the individuals have learned about the CRC and how to understand and interpret its implicantions, they also know what has to be done in the administration in order to speed upp and secure implementation. Other important results show how the individuals act depending on to their position in the organization. The administration directors show passive resistence by not including the question on the agenda. The operations managers show active resistence by not taking the CRC into consideration in their contracts "because then you have to show what you have accomplished".

The purpose of this graduate work is to seek knowledge about how children’s right to participation and influence is interpreted and understood in a specific context and also to examine how this right can be conditioned and shaped by the pedagogical practice of early childhood education. The focus of this study has been to examine the arguments and attitudes towards the right to participation and influence as a pedagogical practice as it is understood in early childhood education. Additionally, I have been interested in studying the affordances and restrictions that early childhood educators experience when dealing with children´s right to participation and influence. The platform used for data collection is Facebook and the informants recruited were active participants in forums regarding democracy in preschool education. In the second phase of the study I conducted online focus groups with these participants. For the analysis of the material I have adopted a poststructuralist perspective, starting from Jaques Derridas philosophical texts and use of deconstruction. The results show the complexity in early childhood education´s democratic mission. What becomes clear is the importance for the teachers to adopting an open, ethical and democratic approach in order to make children´s right to participation and genuine influence possible in the everyday reality of early childhood education.

This paper aims to shed light on the intersex infant, a baby born with an unclear gender. The main goal of the paper is to discuss whether unnecessary gender normalizing surgeries on infants, also called intersex genital mutilation (IGM) that is not necessary to preserve the life or physical health of the infant is in the best interest of the child. Legal method will be used to frame the topic in a legal context and discourse analysis in combination with content analysis will be applied in order to understand the transformation of intersex, from being a social emergency to becoming a human rights issue. The use of the concept, the best interest of the child will serve as an analytical framework together with a theoretical framework consisting of queer theory. Together it will help to map out the human rights challenges regarding IGM as a socially constructed medical product that needs to be highlighted and prevented in order to secure the rights of the child. Hopefully, the concluding results will contribute to further awareness on the issue of unnecessary infant intersex surgery and frame it in a human rights context.

Orphanage volunteering in the Global South has experienced worldwide criticism in recent years as children’s rights violations have surfaced. This thesis examines the discourse of two organizations (“Global Crossroad” and“uVolunteer) that still offer orphanage voluntourism and assesses in what ways they display neo-colonial characteristics on their websites. The theoretical framework entails Said’s Orientalism, development aid critiques, and colonial discourse theorizing to contextualize interpretations. With Fairclough’s CDA method, this thesis aims to highlight how orphanage voluntourism is portrayed and how it may influence addressees to engage in short-term help, contributing to perpetuating orphanage voluntourism and its negative effects as well as unequal power structures. The CDA findings indicate the discourse primarily benefits the organizations, which profit from the erection of neocolonial power structures and ideological “truths” about the Global South, which are not in the best interest of the children. Finally, this thesis discusses the social implications of this discourse promotion and ways to improve child protection.

In England around 68,000 children are currently looked after by the state. Sixty two per cent of this population are admitted to care or accommodation in response to abuse and neglect. As the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child acknowledges, the state has a unique responsibility for these children and is expected to ensure their safety, wellbeing and development. Underpinned by a rights-based framework the publications in the thesis make an original contribution to social work research, policy and practice, in respect of looked after children nationally and internationally. Three cohering theoretical strands - the new sociology of childhood, attachment theory and focal theory, and different methodological lenses, (from participatory research with young people to cross-national analysis of administrative data), are employed to advance understanding of the balance of protective, provisional and participatory rights ( 3 Ps ) for these children and young people. The work focuses upon their life pathways at two key stages in the lifespan: early infancy and adolescence into adulthood. Consistent with the theoretical underpinnings of the research, the methodological approach employed in two of the four core studies sought to promote children s active participation in the research process, and to give them a voice . The participatory peer methodology adopted moved beyond involving care experienced young people in interviewing their peers, to training and engaging them in several major aspects of the research cycle, including analysis of the data and the design and write up of the findings, to produce accessible peer research reports for young people. At the national level the work undertaken demonstrates how a needs-based discourse, and orientation towards considering looked after children as objects of concern, can mean that young children s protective rights may be prioritised in policy and practice, at the expense of their provisional and participatory rights. Children s participation rights are also constrained due to assumptions about the (in)capacities of younger children to express their wishes and feelings. In this context parents rights tend to be prioritised at the expense of the rights of the child. Whereas parents rights may take precedence when children are young, in adolescence the rights of parents are more peripheral. Cross-national comparisons reveal variations in how young people s provisional, participatory and protective rights are balanced as young people negotiate the transition from care to adulthood in western societies, as well as different drivers for reform. Empirical research on recent policy developments in England also illuminates the tensions and dilemmas professionals can face as they attempt to protect and provide for young people, whilst recognising their evolving capabilities and their right to autonomy and active participation in decision making processes. Finally, the studies highlight that young people with the most complex care histories may be denied the right to decide for themselves if they want to remain in foster or residential care into early adulthood.

The thesis deals with the essence of the children‘s rights notion and documents consolidating children‘s rights. Some aspects of children‘s rights regulation are defined and analysed in it.. The problems arising in the field of children‘s rights are reviewed in different literature sources and legal acts. Having gone deep into the essence of children‘s rights and contents, it was found out during the research that children were a complex part of human rights‘ system and they had other rights than adults. Nevertheless in practice we encounter quite a number of infringements with respect to children‘s rights. Children are the weakest element. Being physically immature and inexperienced they fully or partially depend on adults , however, in spite of this and referring to their age and maturity they should be presented the possibility of exercising the rights they are provided for by the family, community and state. Therefore further research should be aimed at these issues.

This thesis presents a study on how school children in Kenya and Sweden express their views on children’s rights, in particular rights related to participation, non-discrimination, and education. The overall purpose was to explore the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, its claim to be universal and its relevance for children in various school and life contexts. Group interviews were conducted with 58 children, aged 12-15 years, from four schools, two schools from each country. The interviews were introduced with an exercise of nine articles from the UN Convention which the groups were asked to discuss and rank from the most to the least important. The aim of the exercise was to make the UN articles known to the children and to open up for a conversation about rights. The theoretical framing for the study is anchored in the tradition of sociology of childhood. Analyses of empirical data were based on the cultural politics of childhood, and the concepts vulnerability and separability. Accordingly, children are viewed as sharing the common experience of being children, but also as experiencing diverse everyday lives. They are regarded as social agents, whose voices carry perspectives important to be listened to. They are also looked upon as able to form and express their views and knowledge in relation to local economical, social and political conditions. The results showed that the children talked about themes and situations that were both common and diverse. They talked more about children’s needs than about children’s rights. Needs for ‘extended’ protection were particularly expressed, i.e. the importance of stable relationships with parents and other adults and peers. The study also showed that when issues on relationships with adults, participation and decision making were discussed, the children expressed experiences of being viewed as subordinated in a way that could be referred to as their inherent and structural vulnerability. A third important result showed that values and norms related to non-discrimination were largely produced and reproduced in peer-cultures. Finally, the children connected education to economical growth, for individuals as well as for societies. The overall conclusion from the study is that children view the UN Convention as a problem solver for children in exposed situations rather than as a document for their everyday life. From a child perspective, rights hold relational qualities, manifested in relationships with adults and peers. Furthermore, the study underlines that the young right holder is a ‘both-and’ child: both global and local, both being and becoming, and both dependent and independent.

The thesis focuses on the issue of children rights and their application in the educational process. The lesson plans and worksheets can be used as teaching aids, especially in the 6th grade of elementary school. The theoretical part is devoted to some basic information about the Framework Educational Programme and the history of children rights not only in the world but also within the Czech Republic. In addition, some important declarations and conventions on children rights and children obligations have been included. The practical part is based on methodological analysis of some particular lessons and also contains some examples of pupils{\crq} worksheets and a follow-up examination of the lessons that have been carried out.

The aim of this study was to understand which factors that lay the foundation for social workers’ custody investigations and the judges’ decisions in custody disputes. Additionally, it was to examine the social workers’ and the judges’ views on children’s’ rights in this process. The study was based on qualitative research where six semi-structured interviews were conducted. Four social workers and two judges working with custody- investigations, and disputes were interviewed. The analysis consists of two key concepts: the concept of discretion and child sociology. The result shows that judges and social workers experience difficulties with interpreting the best interest of the child, that there are different perceptions about when lone and joint custody should be considered and how to best design the rights of access. A common consensus among the interviewees with regards to the best interest of the child, is that each situation requires an individual interpretation while considering necessary safety aspects. Social workers’ statements tend to dominate how the best interests of a child is defined in a judge’s decision. Both professions find ways to accommodate the best interests of the child, even though it does not always turn out ideal. There is a strong believe that the child’s voice is governing the decision, even though our study shows that it is not always considered in the custody investigations nor in court.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to contribute with increased knowledge regarding preschool teacher’s notions of children’s participations and influence in preschool. To find out about this we used semi-structured interviews as a method when we interviewed eights preschool teachers in four different preschools in the same municipality. The preschool teachers that have participated in this study work with children in varying ages. To analyze their variations about children’s participations and influence we have used a phenomenographic method.    The result of the study shows that preschool teachers’ approaches differ because they have different ideas about how and to what extent children should be participating and have influence in preschool. The preschool teachers have described that the children have the right to have influence but that they can be limited by the preschool’s routines. The result also indicates that it’s very effective to use varying forms of support to make preschool available for every child. This support can for example be based on the perspectives that are used in special education. Furthermore, the result makes it clear that children’s many ways of communication are taken into account because their opinions are important, as well as their interests. The preschool teachers also described that the communication between adults is important in order to get a consensus view regarding the term’s participation and influence. Some preschool teachers also experienced that their own awareness of their approach affects the children’s participation and influence. / Syftet med denna kvalitativa studie är att bidra med ökad kunskap om förskollärares föreställningar kring arbetet med barns delaktighet och inflytande i förskolan. För att få reda på detta har vi använt semistrukturerade intervjuer som metod när vi har intervjuat åtta förskollärare på fyra olika förskolor inom samma kommun. Förskollärarna som har medverkat i studien arbetar med olika åldrar. För att analysera fram deras variationer i uppfattningar om barns delaktighet och inflytande i förskolan har vi använt oss av en fenomenografisk metodansats. Studiens resultat visar att förskollärares förhållningssätt ser olika ut då de har olika föreställningar om hur och i vilken utsträckning barnen ska göras delaktiga och få inflytande i förskolans utbildning. Förskollärare beskriver att barnen har rätt till inflytande men att de kan begränsas av förskolans rutiner. Resultatet visar även på att det är gynnsamt att använda stöd i olika former för att göra förskolan tillgänglig för alla barn. Dessa stöd utgår bland annat från det specialpedagogiska perspektivet. Vidare synliggörs det i resultatet att barns olika sätt att kommunicera på tas till vara då deras åsikter är viktiga, vilket deras intressen också är. Förskollärare uttrycker också att kommunikationen mellan de vuxna är betydelsefull för att få en samsyn kring begreppen delaktighet och inflytande. Det har också framkommit att förskollärare upplevde att deras medvetenhet om det egna förhållningsätt påverkar barns delaktighet och inflytande.