Children’s conceptualisation(s) of their well-being (original) (raw)

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.

A well-being of their own: Children’s perspectives of well-being from the capabilities approach

Childhood, 2018

Although children’s well-being is an increasingly important area of interest for policy and research, it is still an under-theorized concept. This article proposes a theoretical framework regarding children’s well-being that combines a capabilities approach with a social provisioning approach. The methodology used involved children in the conceptualization of their well-being and in validating a list of relevant capabilities necessary to have a good life. The data show how children express a multidimensional understanding of well-being and propose an agenda of priorities and concerns of their own different from that of adults.

What's the Use of 'Well-Being' in Contexts of Child Poverty? Approaches to Research, Monitoring and Children's Participation

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.

Notions of Well-Being, the State of Child Well-Being Research and the MYWeB Project

Children’s Well-Being: Indicators and Research

The abstract is published online only. If you did not include a short abstract for the online version when you submitted the manuscript, the first paragraph or the first 10 lines of the chapter will be displayed here. If possible, please provide us with an informative abstract. There has been a growing interest among academics, policy makers and practitioners in the subjective well-being of children and young people (CYP). The recognition of CYP's rights to having a good childhood and good future life chances, coupled with the injunction from the New Sociology of Childhood to consult with CYP as active agents have resulted in an increasing number of studies on children and young people's well-being at national and international levels. However, the design, content, and modes of data collection used in these surveys are influenced by the question of the extent to which the researchers view children and young people as similar or different to adults and which participatory models they are undertaking for the young people in the study. However, the design, content, and modes of data collection used in these surveys are influenced by a number of factors including conceptual underpinning of well-being, its measurement and participatory model(s) used by the researchers for children in those surveys. This chapter reviews these aspects before describing the structure of this book with summaries of each subsequent chapter.