INVOLVING CHILDREN IN SOCIAL POLICY: A CASE STUDY FROM NORTHERN IRELAND

Abstract

One of the most notable breakthroughs in promoting the right of children to be consulted about policies that affect them is the UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, General Assembly of the United Nations, 1989). At the time of writing, the UNCRC has been ratified by all but two (Somalia and the USA) member states of United Nations. The Convention was ratified by the United Kingdom in 1991 and according to Daniel and Ivatts (1998, p. 16) “it is arguably the most significant development in United Kingdom policy towards children since 1945.” By ratifying the Convention, governments must take steps to ensure that they meet the standards and principles set out in the various Articles in the Convention and must provide regular reports to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on its implementation. One of the most significant Articles is Article 12 which specifies that:State Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child (General Assembly of the United Nations, 1989).This Article has found its way into United Kingdom social policy through the introduction of the Children's Act in 1989 (this Act was extended to Northern Ireland in 1995). This provides children in care or children whose parents are going through a divorce some involvement in the decision-making process. The Children's Rights Development Unit which monitors the United Kingdom implementation of the Convention has made Article 12 the primary focus of its work (Shier, 2001). This is partly due to the reaction of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (1995) to the United Kingdom's first report. The Committee identified a number of gaps in the implementation of children's rights particularly in the area of participation rights. Indeed, children's voices remain largely absent in many areas of social policy particularly those relating to education and health (Daniel & Ivatts, 1998). As Hill and Tisdall (1997, p. 256) put it “the rhetoric of children's participation is easier and cheaper than its effective implementation.” Involving children in policy throws up all sorts of issues relating to the participation of children in the decision-making process. What does adopting a child-centred approach to children's role in decision-making entail? How do we ensure that children's views are effectively incorporated in the policy-making arena? How do we find out about the views and perceptions of children in relation to whatever issue is being debated? As Hill and Tisdall (1997) point out, involving children in social policy often gets narrowly translated to listening sympathetically to their views rather than considering them as a social group capable of influencing policy and practice. Yet organisations, which promote the rights of children, such as Save the Children, argue that more meaningful social policies will evolve from taking on board the perspectives of those who are influenced by such policies. One useful model that could be employed to ensure that children effectively participate in research linked to social policy is Hart's ladder of participation (1992). A survey of children's organisations throughout the United Kingdom in their attempts to introduce mechanisms to ensure that their policies and decisions take more account of children's opinions revealed that Hart's model played a significant role in their strategies to involve children in policy related research (Barn & Franklin, 1996). Academic researchers have also utilised Hart's ladder as a framework for advocating approaches to enhance the participation of children in the research process (Landsdown, 1995; Shier, 2001; Verhellen, 1997). The purpose of this paper is to examine the usefulness of Hart's model in involving children in social policy related research concerning the Eleven Plus system in Northern Ireland.

Citation

Leonard, M. (2005), "INVOLVING CHILDREN IN SOCIAL POLICY: A CASE STUDY FROM NORTHERN IRELAND", Bass, L. (Ed.) Sociological Studies of Children and Youth (Sociological Studies of Children and Youth, Vol. 10), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 153-167. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1537-4661(04)10008-1