BACKGROUND: Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a widespread global problem with societal, legal, and scientific implications. In Portugal, despite increasing reporting rates, empirical knowledge about CSA characteristics and children's involvement in criminal proceedings remains limited. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to characterize CSA cases in Portugal, describe children's involvement in the criminal justice system, and examine predictors of abuse patterns and legal outcomes. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: The sample comprised 319 criminal case files related to CSA, filed between 2014 and 2022, drawn from five courts across Portugal. METHODS: A quantitative retrospective design was used. Data were extracted from case files and analyzed using descriptive statistics and Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) to examine predictors of abuse characteristics and legal outcomes. RESULTS: CSA cases were predominantly characterized by female victims and male perpetrators known to the child. Intrafamilial cases were more likely to involve younger victims, contact forms, repeated episodes, and co-occurring victimization. Victim age and the victim-perpetrator relationship emerged as key predictors of abuse patterns. Children were involved in multiple procedural acts (M = 3.10). Regarding legal outcomes, procedural factors, particularly the absence of Statements for Future Use, were associated with a lower likelihood of conviction. Overall, delays in procedures and repeated testimonies highlight potential risks of secondary victimization. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the complexity of CSA cases in Portugal and the central role of child testimony in legal outcomes. Strengthening trauma-informed, child-sensitive justice practices, ensuring timely evidence collection, and reducing procedural delays may improve justice responses and minimize revictimization.
Delfina Fernandes, João P. Gomes, Pedro B. Albuquerque et al.
This article discusses a key meeting for children in care – the Child in Care Review – and examines the extent to which children and young people are able to participate and exert a level of control over their lives. The research, conducted in England, formed part of a wider exploration of the views and experiences of all those involved in such reviews, namely Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs), social workers, senior managers and – the focus of this article – the young people concerned. Most of the children interviewed said that they found their reviews frustrating and stressful, often attributing this to poor relationships with social workers and scepticism about the value of the review process. However, they recognised the workload pressures facing social workers and the bureaucratic constraints affecting the service they received. The article argues for the continuing importance of the IRO role, given the consistency it provides for children in care. It also shows that while it provides an opportunity for children’s participation in discussions about their future, the Child in Care Review is underperforming. The developing practice of children chairing their own reviews offers one way forward and the article calls for this to be developed and for other creative methods to be introduced to enable young people to play a meaningful part in meetings that affect them.
Abstract Children and young people (C&YP) have a right, under Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to express their views freely in all matters affecting them and to have those views given due weight. Despite this, meaningful participation within child welfare services remains uneven and frequently constrained by organizational, professional, and structural factors. Independent advocacy is widely promoted as a mechanism for supporting C&YP’s participation by enabling them to understand their rights, articulate their views, and have those views represented within decision-making processes. However, the extent to which advocacy fulfils this participation-enabling role in practice has not been systematically synthesized. This article reports on a systematic review of empirical research examining the experiences and perceived impact of advocacy support for looked-after C&YP, analysed explicitly through a participation lens. Thirteen peer-reviewed studies published since the introduction of the UNCRC were included following comprehensive database searching and rigorous screening. Data were extracted and analysed thematically, with particular attention to how advocacy shapes opportunities for C&YP’s voices to be expressed, heard, and acted upon within child welfare decision-making.
James Lunn, Paul McCafferty, Davy; id_orcid 0000-0001-7053-9069 Hayes
PURPOSE: Young children with type 1 diabetes are often marginalized in clinical consultations due to communication practices that favor verbal, adult-centered interaction. Developmentally attuned methods to support young children's meaningful participation in routine diabetes care remain limited. This study aimed to develop and examine Child-Centered Narrative Play Tools (CNPTs) and explore how they support participation, communication, expression of agency, and assess their feasibility in pediatric diabetes consultations. DESIGN AND METHODS: An iterative participatory qualitative design was conducted across two specialist pediatric diabetes clinics in Denmark. Twenty-nine children aged 3-7 years, 29 caregivers, and 12 healthcare professionals participated in workshops, exploratory testing, video-recorded clinical observations, and semi-structured interviews. Narrative story stems and play materials were co-developed and refined through cycles of testing and feedback. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis, combining inductive coding with theory-informed interpretation. RESULTS: Narrative play functioned as a primary medium through which young children expressed experiences, demonstrated understanding of diabetes management, and exercised agency during consultations. The tools enabled children to articulate everyday experiences of diabetes management and emotional responses that were often not expressed in standard consultations. Healthcare professionals reported increased confidence in communicating at the child's developmental level, and caregivers observed greater ownership and recall of consultation content. Feasibility testing indicated that the tools were feasible for routine clinical practice, with high acceptability and good usability following appropriate training. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Child-Centered Narrative Play Tools (CNPTs) offer pediatric HCPs a feasible, theory-informed framework to operationalize child-centered care and make young children's perspectives visible and actionable in routine diabetes practice.
Patricia DeCosta, Mette Madsen, Line Aagaard Hasselbalch et al.
Abstract When compared with mothers, fathers continue to be considerably underrepresented in developmental research on child and adolescent psychopathology. The present study examined the factors contributing to fathers’ participation in such studies in which both mothers and fathers were asked to participate. The sample consisted of 477 families which were examined four times over the course of ten years (Pre to Follow-up after ten years [FU10]). The average age of the children at Pre was 4 years, and that of the adolescents ten years later was 14 years (FU10). On average, 70.4% of fathers participated in the assessments. The average transition probability for participation over four assessment points was 93.1%. Fathers from two-parent families participated significantly more often than fathers from single-parent families. Household income, a good father-adolescent relationship, and joint custody, if applicable, were related to paternal participation. For fathers from two-parent families, participation at previous assessment points was the decisive predictor. For fathers from single-parent families, the relationship between the adolescent and the father was the decisive predictor. Fathers who had participated in previous assessments remained involved in the study over the long run. Therefore, the primary goal should be to encourage as many fathers as possible to participate when starting clinical empirical studies. Monetary incentives could be used to recruit families with low household incomes.
How do children (aged 6–12 years) understand and make use of a digital tool that is under development? This article builds on an ongoing interdisciplinary research project in which children, social workers (the inventers of this social innovation) and researchers together develop an interactive digital tool (application) to strengthen children’s participation during the planning and process of welfare assessments. Departing from social constructionism, and using a discursive narrative approach with visual ethnography, the aim of the article is to display how the children co-construct the application and contribute with “stories of life situations” by drawing themselves as characters and the places they frequent. The findings show that the children improved the application by suggesting more affordances so that they could better create themselves/others, by discovering bugs, and by showing how it could appeal to children of various ages. The application helped the children to start communicating and bonding when creating themselves in detail, drawing places/characters and describing events associated with them, and sharing small life stories. The application can help children and social workers to connect and facilitate children’s participation by allowing them to focus on their own perspectives when drawing and sharing stories.
Helena Blomberg, Gunnel Östlund, Philip Rautell Lindstedt et al.
This study explores opportunities and challenges for the participation of children and young people in Norwegian Child Welfare Services (CWS) through analysis from an action research project. The project aimed at collective participation in developing and improving child welfare services in a research circle in cooperation between young people, social workers from CWS and researchers. The researchers intended to involve the young people directly in the project, but the social workers opposed this. The project, therefore, proceeded with social workers and researchers in the research circle and parallel interviews and group conferences with young people with experience from CWS. The young people reported that they would have participated in the research circle if invited. This dichotomy between the social workers and the young people's opinions is the background for discussing opportunities and challenges for children and young people's collective participation in CWS. We conclude that a view of CYP and professional role characterised by protectionism and paternalism, together with a lack of knowledge and experience, hinder the collective participation of children and young people. We recommend that Child welfare services explore and develop working methods for collective participation in cooperation with children and young people.
A person, usually a child or young adult, dies by drowning every 90 seconds around the planet. Most drowning prevention initiatives do not assess the efficacy of the intervention. In this study, thirteen- to fourteen-year-olds had their level of water safety knowledge (covering cold shock, rips and tides) assessed before, just after, and 3-6 months after one, 25-minute water safety lesson on these topics. We evaluated the knowledge gained and retained on water safety “awareness” (i.e., knowledge of risks) and “confidence” in terms of knowing what to do in an emergency. The results demonstrated that the lesson significantly increased water safety awareness and confidence in pupils, and these benefits were retained for at least six months. We accept our hypothesis that theoretical, classroom-based instruction in water safety can improve the water safety awareness and confidence of children and may represent a “lesson for life.” Given the large numbers who drown around the globe annually, a lesson on water safety should be part of every national curriculum.
Mike Tipton, Joseph Müller, Cristian Abelairas Gómez et al.
Co-designing and co-creating technology have recently received much attention in the child-computer interaction (CCI) community. However, there has yet to be much work to explore the co-designing aspect in the field of children’s cybersecurity awareness and parental involvement. With this study, we present the results of a co-design activity with ten children between 9 and 12 years to explore how children think about different cybersecurity issues and parents’ roles in those cybersecurity-related situations. Our findings show that children expect various adult roles to provide support to ensure their safety online and especially expect their parents to take a supportive role in cybersecurity experiences by informing them about the risks, offering suggestions on mitigating or protective measures, and helping them take protective measures or actions against any entity posing the risks. Our study contributes to understanding children’s perceptions of cybersecurity and parental involvement through storytelling.
