Invited to labour or participate : intra- and inter-generational distinctions and the role of capital in children’s invited participation
This paper applies aspects of Bourdieu’s conceptual toolkit related to capital, and analyses inter- and intra-generational relations of influence. Applying Bourdieu’s concepts to examples of case studies from a children’s parliament in Finland, and with reference to an adult resident forum, moments of continuity and disruption in the relatively stable patterns of distinction between children and adults emerge. Children in school councils (at times) are labourers for agendas set by teachers, but the children at the top of the structure’s hierarchy can benefit from cultural capital and a functional capital that enables them to set agendas and direct the work of others. The political capital o…
A lattice of participation: reflecting on examples of children's and young people's collective engagement in influencing social welfare policies and practices
The article introduces four case studies from Wales, France and Finland and explores the situated, intergenerational and dynamic nature of collective participation in child welfare settings. Collective participation is conceived of as a process of engagement in which children and young people have some influence over the initiation or direction of a project; and as seeking a product, or outcome. The case studies represent a range of forms of collective engagement and highlight some key resources which supported children's participation (communicative spaces, time, money, knowledge, social position, attitudes, social networks, institutional commitment, equipment, food and transport). Challen…
Child-researcher relationships in child protection research : an integrative review
In research with children, particularly those in contact with social and health services, researchers face ethical challenges and have stringent ethical obligations. One obligation regards the need for researchers to adopt a reflexive approach to considering how children’s perspectives and experiences are represented. In this paper, the nature of child-researcher relationships and researchers’ positions are examined to further understanding of how to account for the impact of contexts on meaning making in research with children. An integrative literature review of articles concerned with child protection identified a paucity of researcher accounts of reflexivity. The review articles contain…