Incomplete Citizens: Changing Images of Post‐Separation Children

Abstract

The image of the child as the victim of separation or divorce is well‐established in legal, socio‐legal and popular discourse. However, the authors argue, alongside this traditional image of the child, there is a different image of the child emerging, that of the autonomous, responsible child. This is apparent in academic discourse, policy documents and legal pronouncements. This child is included in the project of ‘remoralising’ the family by building the ‘good’ post‐separation family. The ‘good’ child of separation or divorce is responsible for safeguarding his or her own welfare and is expected to make those choices that are assumed to best protect his or her best interests. In order to ensure that the child makes the ‘right’ decisions, he or she, like the adults concerned, is the target of education, information and therapeutic intervention. There is a blending of paradigms in which the ideal child is both an autonomous social actor and a vulnerable object of concern.

Supporting Children’s Social and Emotional Well-being: Does ‘Having a Say’ Matter?

“…‘Grief’ in this context is not constructed as a pathological condition that positions children as victims or dependent but in a state of being that provides them with space to acknowledge their hurt or distress and to resist powerlessness and passivity in the face of changing and often stressful family circumstances (Graham, 2004). In approaching their experiences in this way, we acknowledge that children are implicated in the project of their own well‐being, and can engage their own knowing to act on themselves in relation to changes that divorce or death brings (Kaganas and Diduck, 2004).…”

The Voice of the Child: Experiences of Children, in Middle Childhood, Regarding Children’s Court Procedures

“…In short, in terms of the law children are no longer viewed as passive victims of parental and adult disputes, but rather children are now active rights-holders (Bainham & Gilmore, 2013;Diduck, 2003;Heaton, 2012;Kaganas & Diduck, 2004;Nathanson & Saywitz, 2015). Thus children are acknowledged as autonomous individuals who have the right to information and participation in all aspects that significantly affect them (Children's Act 38 of 2005; James, 2003).…”