A scaffold for participation in agency work

Abstract

The following summary of a literature review on children and young people's participation in the welfare sector was written in response to a need to understand this concept within the context of human services work in New South Wales. This need became apparent through work being done at UnitingCare Burnside around children and young people's participation. Examination of the literature on participation revealed an increase in discussion around the issues. While this has included exploration of definitions, history, practice, models and factors enhancing effective participative practice, there has been a dearth of writing linking these. The literature review attempted to provide a scaffold that could be used to support agency workers as they attempt to build meaningful, effective, strong and reciprocal partnerships with children and young people. This concise summary of the literature review has sought to highlight the major supports found to provide a scaffold for participative agency practice with children and young people.

Young Children's Rights and Public Policy: Practices and Possibilities for Citizenship in the Early Years

“…Fajerman, 2001). Reimer (2003, p. 33) substituted a bridge for a ladder as his metaphor of participation, arguing that children's active participation bridges the chasm between their political worlds and that of adults, enabling them to gain power rather than being ‘empowered’ by adults. Mason and Urquhart (2001) argued that in participative decision‐making, the power relationship between children and adults is not fixed, but a see‐saw, in which each side takes the lead according to the particular circumstances.…”

“…Listening to children encourages and assists them to become active citizens who participate in public decision‐making, so organisers of consultations with young children should value the process of consultation as much as its outcomes . In particular, organisers should provide children with appropriate, safe and comfortable ways and places to express their views and ideas (Reimer, 2003) and with diverse media through which to do so. Resources. Consulting young children requires resources in addition to those that an organisation uses in its everyday work.…”

For Their Own Good

“…Any initiative to recruit children for research may be thwarted if we continue to perceive children as significantly vulnerable and unable to understand 'adult' issues such as separation, divorce and parenting tasks. While authors such as Neale et al (2003) argue that adult understandings of children have begun to change as a result of the CRC, Australian attitudes towards children as social agents who hold valid opinions on issues that directly affect them are still evolving (see, for example, Barnett and Wilson, 2004;Burfoot, 2003;Reimer, 2003). Research with children in Australia can contribute significantly to a change in these attitudes, whereby it can be demonstrated that by and large children are able and resilient, holding valid opinions and experiences in relation to their lives and worlds.…”

A Factor Analysis of Malaysian Youth Lifestyle Domain

“…Most studies about youth and digital media focus on how the digital media could empower youth, particularly in the context of civic and political participation (Kirby et al, 2003, Reimer, 2003Valenzuela, Park & Kee, 2009;Zhang, Seltz & Richard, 2013;Xenosa, Vronen & Loader, 2014;Che Ching et al, 2018;Samsuddin et al, 2019;Che Ching, 2020). However, none of the studies puts youth lifestyle as one of the variables to be investigated.…”