A well-being of their own: Children’s perspectives of well-being from the capabilities approach (original) (raw)
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The Capability Approach and Child Well-Being: A Systematic Literature Review
Child Indicators Research
Child well-being is a dynamic concept currently under revision due to its complexity and the need to incorporate traditionally overlooked perspectives. An essential aspect of this revision is considering children as active agents in defining the concept itself and incorporating new elements that enrich the more traditional economics-based and adult-centred conceptualisation. In these regards, the capability approach (CA) provides valuable theoretical support for an expanded understanding of child well-being. Therefore, this article aims to offer a systematised review of the literature from the last two decades that uses this approach in examining children and childhood. To do so, the authors examined the main international databases and conducted relevant additional searches, identifying 63 journals that have published capabilitarian articles over the last two decades. Our findings show that most publications concentrate on recent years, with an expansion of the methodologies used a...
Children’s conceptualisation(s) of their well-being
Social Indicators Research, 2007
ABSTRACT. This paper describes the process and some findings of a collaborative project between the New South Wales Commission for Children and Young People and researchers at the Social Justice and Social Change Research Centre, at the University of Western Sydney. The ...
Childhood, 2020
This qualitative research with UK primary school children reveals their own subjective perceptions of well-being. In an educational context, the development of a theoretical framework towards understanding well-being is provided by capturing the voices of children through creative and visual methods. The data enabled nine key themes to emerge which have been applied to the Capability Approach and Community Psychology. The flexible approach also provides a practical means for practitioners to further understand and support children in an educational context.
Clinical social work journal, 2021
Objective: The aim of this article is to understand how social services contribute to the well-being of children and young people who use them. Method: The research study, based on Capability Approach, was done using a mixed-research strategy. Participants: The collection of data took place through 44 indepth semi-structured interviews with children, young people and their parents/foster parents who use social services in one of the regional capitals of the Czech Republic. Results: Parents at risk underrate their role in loving and caring for their children. Parents at risk are more likely than children Original Article to undervalue education. Social services do not develop youngsters' capability to live a meaningful life. Conclusion: The research has shown that although social services have significant potential to ensure well-being for children and youth, they work primarily in a way that provides clients with basic social functioning in the present, without influencing their future positively.
Toward a Theory of Child Well-Being
Assuring the well-being of children has emerged over the past several decades as an important goal for health and social policymakers. Although the concept of child well-being has been operationalized and measured in different ways by different child-serving entities, there are few unifying theories that could undergird and inform these various conceptual and measurement efforts. In this paper, we attempt to construct a theory of child well-being. We first review the social and policy history of the concept of child well-being, and briefly review its measurement based on these conceptualizations. We then examine three types of theories of well-being extant in philosophy – mental states theories, desire-based theories and needs-based theories – and investigate their suitability to serve as prototypes of a theory of child well-being. We develop a constraint that child well-being is important in and of itself and not merely as a way station to future adult well-being (we call this a non-reduction constraint). Using this constraint, we identify the limitations of each of the three sets of theories to serve as a basis for a theory of child well-being. Based on a developmentalist approach, we then articulate a theory of child well-being that contains two conditions. First, a child's stage-appropriate capacities that equip her for successful adulthood, given her environment; and, second, an engagement with the world in child-appropriate ways. We conclude by reviewing seven implications of this theoretical approach for the measurement of child well-being.
The Capability Approach and Research on Children: Capability Approach and Children’s Issues
Children's well-being, 2010
This new series focuses on the subject of measurements and indicators of children's well being and their usage, within multiple domains and in diverse cultures. More specifically, the series seeks to present measures and data resources, analysis of data, exploration of theoretical issues, and information about the status of children, as well as the implementation of this information in policy and practice. By doing so it aims to explore how child indicators can be used to improve the development and the well being of children. With an international perspective the series will provide a unique applied perspective, by bringing in a variety of analytical models, varied perspectives, and a variety of social policy regimes. Children's Well-Being: Indicators and Research will be unique and exclusive in the field of measures and indicators of children's lives and will be a source of high quality, policy impact and rigorous scientific papers.
Quality of life research, 2024
Purpose This study explores how important well-becoming factors appear to be to children during childhood. We define well-becoming as the indicators which predict children and young people's future wellbeing and opportunities. The priority for this work was to explore whether well-becoming might be an important factor to include in outcome measures for children and young people. The inclusion of well-becoming indicators could ensure that opportunities to invest in promoting wellbeing in children's futures are not missed. Methods In-depth, qualitative interviews (N = 70) were undertaken with children and young people aged 6-15 years and their parents. Analysis used constant comparison and framework methods to investigate whether well-becoming factors were considered important by informants to children and young people's current wellbeing. Results The findings of the interviews suggested that children and young people and their parents are concerned with future well-becoming now, as factors such as future achievement, financial security, health, independence, identity, and relationships were identified as key to future quality of life. Informants suggested that they considered it important during childhood to aspire towards positive outcomes in children and young people's futures. Conclusion The study findings, taken alongside relevant literature, have generated evidence to support the notion that future well-becoming is important to current wellbeing. We have drawn on our own work in capability wellbeing measure development to demonstrate how we have incorporated a well-becoming attribute into our measures. The inclusion of well-becoming indicators in measures could aid investment in interventions which more directly improve well-becoming outcomes for children and young people.
Children’s perspectives on child well-being
2009
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) through its reporting framework for nation states has prompted increasing interest on the measuring and monitoring of child well-being. The domains and indicators included in the repertoire of country measures of child well-being have mostly been constructed and monitored by adults, usually social scientists and government officials. This study explored children's own understandings of children's well-being. Sixteen focus groups were conducted with 200 children between the ages of 9 and 16 years. The study identified protection and safety, basic needs, community resources and psychosocial issues as the key domains of well-being. The study further highlighted the importance of perceiving well-being as an integrated whole consisting of closely interacting components rather than as a discrete multidimensional phenomenon.
The International Journal of Children's Rights, 2009
Monitoring, protecting and promoting 'well-being' are central to realisation of children's rights. Yet defi nitions of the concept are both variable and can appear conceptually confused. Competing research paradigms engage with the concept and its measurement, while applications of well-being in policy are equally contested. Th is paper outlines some of the major debates, as a starting point for reviewing three contrasting approaches to well-being: indicator-based, participatory, and longitudinal research. In particular, it focuses on applications of the concept in contexts of child poverty worldwide. We suggest there are some promising signs of integration amongst these approaches, and argue that well-being does have potential as a bridging concept, at the same time highlighting inequalities, acknowledging diversity, and respecting children's agency.