Peer-reviewed article
Children’s Participation in Child Welfare Decision Making: Recognising Dichotomies, Conceptualising Critically Informed Solutions.
Paul McCafferty ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This article examines a contradiction in social work practice: while professionals are required to listen to children's views under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, this obligation is often not fulfilled in practice. The author argues that social workers face a tension between safeguarding children and genuinely listening to their perspectives. The paper proposes using Honneth's recognition theory as a framework to help social workers balance these competing duties and create more authentic participatory practices with children involved in welfare systems.
Key points
- A dichotomy exists between social work's stated commitment to listen to children's voices and the reality of practice
- Current approaches inadequately implement Article 12 of the UNCRC concerning children's right to participation
- Honneth's recognition theory can provide a practical template for social workers to build participatory practices
- The theory addresses three dimensions: love, rights, and solidarity
- The framework aims to help social workers accommodate both safeguarding duties and children's participation rights
Limitations
This is a theoretical paper that does not evaluate how well the proposed recognition theory framework actually works in practice or with real social workers and children. The article offers conceptual insights and recommendations but provides no empirical evidence of implementation or outcomes.
Abstract
This article suggests that there exists a dichotomy within social work related to listening to the voice of the child, contributing to a diminution of social works practical, ethical and legal obligation to enact Article12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The article gives an in-depth exploration of this phenomenon and offers insights as to why this dichotomy exists, arguing that if social work is to realise its obligation to listen to the voice of the child, it must find solutions that accommodate the professions responsibilities to listen to children. One such solution is offered within the paper that may assist social work resolve its problematic relationship with Article 12. An adapted model of Honneth’s recognition theory is offered as a unique theoretical and practical method to help social work accommodate its duty to safeguard children whilst simultaneously listening to their wishes and feelings at individual, State and societal level. The theory can be used to critique current practice, offering social workers a template to build participatory practices, based on the equal recognition of children’s citizenship and agency. Honneth’s theory can be used to evaluate how well new participatory practices satisfy the criteria of love, rights and solidarity. By accepting Honneth’s theory of recognition, social work can begin to make progress addressing the practice dichotomy concerning participation aspiration and reality. The article offers an innovative and unique contribution to the literature on children’s participation by adapting Honneth’s recognition theory and applying it exclusively to the participation rights of children known to social services, offering novel ways social workers can enable this group of children to lay claim to their right to participate.