The issues of race and ethnicity are taboo in the realm of development. By critically analysing a representation of race and ethnicity in an advertisement for an international development agency, this paper seeks to open new avenues of discussion to break this silence. The paper examines the reduction of the racial identity through the process of stereotyping, the commodification of vulnerable children from the devloping world through the hidden language of race and the construction of the development worker as a ‘white saviour’ through the depiction of volunteers as ‘rescuers’. The aim of this paper is not to simply dismiss the actions of development workers as inherently racist; rather it concludes that race and development are inextricably linked. A discussion of this relationship is necessary to break its taboo in development praxis.
{"title":"Gap year saviours - An analysis of the role of race in an advertisement for development volunteering","authors":"Jackie Hogan","doi":"10.21427/D70B0N","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D70B0N","url":null,"abstract":"The issues of race and ethnicity are taboo in the realm of development. By critically analysing a representation of race and ethnicity in an advertisement for an international development agency, this paper seeks to open new avenues of discussion to break this silence. The paper examines the reduction of the racial identity through the process of stereotyping, the commodification of vulnerable children from the devloping world through the hidden language of race and the construction of the development worker as a ‘white saviour’ through the depiction of volunteers as ‘rescuers’. The aim of this paper is not to simply dismiss the actions of development workers as inherently racist; rather it concludes that race and development are inextricably linked. A discussion of this relationship is necessary to break its taboo in development praxis.","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"15 1","pages":"2"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68641308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Safeguarding Children Research Initiative (Davies & Ward, 2012) was a programme of fifteen studies commissioned by the Department of Health and what is now the Department for Education, each of which explored a different aspect of safeguarding children. This paper brings together the findings of these studies to explore the types of strategies that have been shown to promote positive long-term outcomes for children and young people at risk of maltreatment. The authors ighlight the potential harm caused to children when they are exposed to maltreatment and demonstrate the range of interventions that have been developed to improve their long-term outcomes. The paper provides examples of universal, targeted and intensive services with a strong evidence base for success. The most effective intensive interventions are found to be those that prevent the occurrence or re-occurrence of altreatment, address the underlying factors associated with maltreatment and the various stages associated with the process of change. The authors also examine the supplementary issues practitioners need to be aware of when considering the choice of intervention, including some of the obstacles to providing support, such as the nature of the evidence base, the extent to which different agencies work together to provide services for vulnerable children and families, the availability of resources and the ways in which children and families move between different parts of the child welfare system. If practitioners are to make best use of the available interventions, it is important that they select those underpinned by robust evidence showing that positive outcomes have been achieved for families in similar circumstances
{"title":"Looking for long-term outcomes: what early interventions are needed for children and young people at risk of maltreatment in England?","authors":"S. McDermid, Georgia Hyde-Dryden, H. Ward","doi":"10.21427/D7HB1P","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7HB1P","url":null,"abstract":"The Safeguarding Children Research Initiative (Davies & Ward, 2012) was a programme of fifteen studies commissioned by the Department of Health and what is now the Department for Education, each of which explored a different aspect of safeguarding children. This paper brings together the findings of these studies to explore the types of strategies that have been shown to promote positive long-term outcomes for children and young people at risk of maltreatment. The authors ighlight the potential harm caused to children when they are exposed to maltreatment and demonstrate the range of interventions that have been developed to improve their long-term outcomes. The paper provides examples of universal, targeted and intensive services with a strong evidence base for success. The most effective intensive interventions are found to be those that prevent the occurrence or re-occurrence of altreatment, address the underlying factors associated with maltreatment and the various stages associated with the process of change. The authors also examine the supplementary issues practitioners need to be aware of when considering the choice of intervention, including some of the obstacles to providing support, such as the nature of the evidence base, the extent to which different agencies work together to provide services for vulnerable children and families, the availability of resources and the ways in which children and families move between different parts of the child welfare system. If practitioners are to make best use of the available interventions, it is important that they select those underpinned by robust evidence showing that positive outcomes have been achieved for families in similar circumstances","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"15 1","pages":"5"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67742286","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Foreword: “Irish History is not a Closed Shop”: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Ireland’s Discourses of Otherness","authors":"E. Hidalgo-Tenorio","doi":"10.21427/D72B08","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D72B08","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"16 1","pages":"8"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68642649","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Technology as Scripting, Constructed and Relational: Three Narratives about Food Waste Recycling in Edinburgh","authors":"Judith Lorton","doi":"10.21427/D7VM86","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7VM86","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"15 1","pages":"3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67750799","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Irish female methods of suicide from 1980 till 2009 were investigated in order to determine the likelihood of the method of suicide as determined by decade as well as the age at death. Secondary data analysis was conducted on the National Suicide Research Foundation (NSRF) dataset. Multinomial logistic regression was used to compare methods of suicide using odds ratios. Log-linear analysis was conducted in order to investigate possible interactions between the variables. A stepwise backward elimination procedure determined the most parsimonious model to account for the observed frequencies. Follow-up chisquare analyses were conducted on the three-way interaction in order to separately assess possible interactions of decade and age on method of suicide. Findings showed that the odds of hanging increased over time in comparison to overdosing and drowning. Interaction effects are present between all three variables and there is a significant association between age and decade for hanging but not so for overdosing or drowning. It is concluded that hanging is a method which is indeed increasing over time for women in Ireland.
{"title":"Methods of Suicide by Women in Ireland 1980-2009","authors":"Raegan Murphy, S. O'Connor","doi":"10.21427/D7M439","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7M439","url":null,"abstract":"Irish female methods of suicide from 1980 till 2009 were investigated in order to determine the likelihood of the method of suicide as determined by decade as well as the age at death. Secondary data analysis was conducted on the National Suicide Research Foundation (NSRF) dataset. Multinomial logistic regression was used to compare methods of suicide using odds ratios. Log-linear analysis was conducted in order to investigate possible interactions between the variables. A stepwise backward elimination procedure determined the most parsimonious model to account for the observed frequencies. Follow-up chisquare analyses were conducted on the three-way interaction in order to separately assess possible interactions of decade and age on method of suicide. Findings showed that the odds of hanging increased over time in comparison to overdosing and drowning. Interaction effects are present between all three variables and there is a significant association between age and decade for hanging but not so for overdosing or drowning. It is concluded that hanging is a method which is indeed increasing over time for women in Ireland.","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"15 1","pages":"5"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67745111","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Foreword: European perspectives on child abuse and neglect: Key messages from the 13th ISPCAN European Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect","authors":"Kevin J. Lalor, H. Buckley","doi":"10.21427/D71B1B","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D71B1B","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"15 1","pages":"1"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68641952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
UNICEF is supporting governments in Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia to develop national child protection systems that effectively prevent and respond to violence, family separation and detention, including among most vulnerable groups. In particular, UNICEF supports child care reforms aiming at enforcing the right of children to live in a family environment. Ten years of complex reforms in the social sector were not translated into results for children as the rate of children placed in formal care has not declined during the last decade. In order to share a joint vision that every child must grow up in a nurturing family environment, UNICEF and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights launched at the European Parliament in July 2011a call to action to give priority to end the placement of children under three in institutions and prevent the separation of children from their families. At the end of 2012, 20 governments made commitments to adopt national operational plans for preventing the placement of children below three years in formal care. One year later, results can start to be identified and measured. Due primarily to the prompt and effective efforts of the governments of Bulgaria, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Serbia and Turkey, it is estimated that the number of children below three years in institutional care decreased by 10 per cent in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia by the end of 2013. This was achieved through diversified approaches described here. A long-lasting violation of the right of children to live in a family The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) states the priority that “the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment” 1 and the guiding principle that “State parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will except when (...) such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child” 2 . At the same time, the region of Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS) is known to have some of the highest numbers in the world 3 of children growing up separated from their families. The total number of children who grow up in formal care in the region is estimated at 1.3 million, out of which 650,000 live in residential care. Of these children, some 200,000 have disabilities, and 30,000 are under the age of three. 4 1 UNCRC, Preamble. 2 Article 9 of the CRC 3UNICEF (2009), “At Home or in a Home”, p. 9 4TransMONEE database 2012 Child care system reforms in Eastern and Central Europe and Central 4 Asia: Why there is a need to focus on children below three years The high rates of separation in this region are to a large extent due to the legacy of systems inherited from the socialist regimes. Before transition, the paradigm of state-run systems of protection based on residential care dominated. Mind-sets based on the common belief that the sta
{"title":"Child care system reforms in Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia: Why there is a need to focus on children below three years","authors":"J. Legrand","doi":"10.21427/D7WM74","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7WM74","url":null,"abstract":"UNICEF is supporting governments in Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia to develop national child protection systems that effectively prevent and respond to violence, family separation and detention, including among most vulnerable groups. In particular, UNICEF supports child care reforms aiming at enforcing the right of children to live in a family environment. Ten years of complex reforms in the social sector were not translated into results for children as the rate of children placed in formal care has not declined during the last decade. In order to share a joint vision that every child must grow up in a nurturing family environment, UNICEF and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights launched at the European Parliament in July 2011a call to action to give priority to end the placement of children under three in institutions and prevent the separation of children from their families. At the end of 2012, 20 governments made commitments to adopt national operational plans for preventing the placement of children below three years in formal care. One year later, results can start to be identified and measured. Due primarily to the prompt and effective efforts of the governments of Bulgaria, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Serbia and Turkey, it is estimated that the number of children below three years in institutional care decreased by 10 per cent in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia by the end of 2013. This was achieved through diversified approaches described here. A long-lasting violation of the right of children to live in a family The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) states the priority that “the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment” 1 and the guiding principle that “State parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will except when (...) such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child” 2 . At the same time, the region of Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS) is known to have some of the highest numbers in the world 3 of children growing up separated from their families. The total number of children who grow up in formal care in the region is estimated at 1.3 million, out of which 650,000 live in residential care. Of these children, some 200,000 have disabilities, and 30,000 are under the age of three. 4 1 UNCRC, Preamble. 2 Article 9 of the CRC 3UNICEF (2009), “At Home or in a Home”, p. 9 4TransMONEE database 2012 Child care system reforms in Eastern and Central Europe and Central 4 Asia: Why there is a need to focus on children below three years The high rates of separation in this region are to a large extent due to the legacy of systems inherited from the socialist regimes. Before transition, the paradigm of state-run systems of protection based on residential care dominated. Mind-sets based on the common belief that the sta","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"15 1","pages":"2"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67751751","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article presents results from a service evaluation of a life skills programme for Deaf adults that had been operating as a pilot for three years in Dublin until June 2013. The remit of the programme was to provide a short-term residential intervention service for Deaf adults who were perceived to be vulnerable and isolated from their community. Over the course of its three years in operation, the programme had seventeen Deaf participants. The literature on life skills and Deaf adults is sparse. Studies have tended to concentrate on barriers young people with disabilities face, and within that literature young Deaf people are rarely discussed (Stewart et al., 2013). However, there are particular barriers to the transition to independent living for this population. Acquisition of life skills can be compromised by a number of factors including: lower expectations during their school years, barriers to incidental learning opportunities, poor communication at home, learned helplessness, and poor literacy and numeracy skills. Furthermore, existing mainstream services providing life skills programmes to other adults with disabilities frequently do not have the skill-set to work with Deaf adults, nor do they have communication competency in Irish Sign Language that would facilitate their inclusion in these services. Given the increased move to mainstream services and the closure of congregated settings for adults with disabilities in the wake of the congregated settings report (Health Service Executive, 2011), there is a need now to examine the availability of appropriate services to facilitate the transition to independent living for vulnerable adults with disabilities. This article presents case study data from five participants based on interviews with participants, parents and staff. It also features quantitative results from a retrospective life skills inventory. Overall, gains were made across a range of life skill areas, in particular food management, housekeeping, emergency and safety, and transportation. However, gaps persist particularly in relation to health, sexual health, knowledge of legal rights, and knowledge of housing issues such as renting.
本文介绍了一项针对聋人成人的生活技能项目的服务评估结果,该项目在都柏林作为试点运行了三年,直到2013年6月。该计划的职责是为那些被认为是弱势群体和与社区隔离的聋人成年人提供短期住宿干预服务。在三年的运作过程中,有17名聋人参加了这个项目。关于生活技能和聋人成人的文献很少。研究往往集中在残疾青年面临的障碍上,在这些文献中很少讨论年轻的聋人(Stewart et al., 2013)。然而,对于这些人口来说,在向独立生活过渡的过程中存在着特别的障碍。生活技能的获得可能受到许多因素的影响,包括:在校期间期望较低,偶然学习机会的障碍,家庭沟通不良,习得性无助以及读写和计算能力差。此外,现有的主流服务机构为其他残疾成年人提供生活技能项目,这些机构往往不具备与聋人成年人一起工作的技能,他们也不具备爱尔兰手语的沟通能力,这将有助于他们融入这些服务。鉴于越来越多的人转向主流服务,而且在《聚集环境报告》(卫生服务执行局,2011年)发布之后,关闭了面向残疾成年人的聚集环境,现在有必要审查是否有适当的服务,以促进脆弱的残疾成年人向独立生活的过渡。本文通过对参与者、家长和工作人员的访谈,提供了五个参与者的案例研究数据。它还具有回顾性生活技能清单的定量结果。总体而言,在一系列生活技能领域,特别是食品管理、家政、应急和安全以及交通方面,都取得了进展。但是,差距仍然存在,特别是在保健、性健康、对法律权利的了解以及对住房问题(如租房)的了解方面。
{"title":"Towards an Independent Future: Life Skills Training and Vulnerable Deaf Adults","authors":"Elizabeth Mathews","doi":"10.21427/D7442K","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7442K","url":null,"abstract":"This article presents results from a service evaluation of a life skills programme for Deaf adults that had been operating as a pilot for three years in Dublin until June 2013. The remit of the programme was to provide a short-term residential intervention service for Deaf adults who were perceived to be vulnerable and isolated from their community. Over the course of its three years in operation, the programme had seventeen Deaf participants. The literature on life skills and Deaf adults is sparse. Studies have tended to concentrate on barriers young people with disabilities face, and within that literature young Deaf people are rarely discussed (Stewart et al., 2013). However, there are particular barriers to the transition to independent living for this population. Acquisition of life skills can be compromised by a number of factors including: lower expectations during their school years, barriers to incidental learning opportunities, poor communication at home, learned helplessness, and poor literacy and numeracy skills. Furthermore, existing mainstream services providing life skills programmes to other adults with disabilities frequently do not have the skill-set to work with Deaf adults, nor do they have communication competency in Irish Sign Language that would facilitate their inclusion in these services. Given the increased move to mainstream services and the closure of congregated settings for adults with disabilities in the wake of the congregated settings report (Health Service Executive, 2011), there is a need now to examine the availability of appropriate services to facilitate the transition to independent living for vulnerable adults with disabilities. This article presents case study data from five participants based on interviews with participants, parents and staff. It also features quantitative results from a retrospective life skills inventory. Overall, gains were made across a range of life skill areas, in particular food management, housekeeping, emergency and safety, and transportation. However, gaps persist particularly in relation to health, sexual health, knowledge of legal rights, and knowledge of housing issues such as renting.","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"50 1","pages":"1"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68643490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Identifying Key Elements of Social Care Practice in Successful Care Settings for Older People in Ireland: Steps towards 'Wise' Social Care","authors":"Carmel M Gallagher Dr, Ricca Edmondson Prof.","doi":"10.21427/D7GB1C","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7GB1C","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"15 1","pages":"6"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68649186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Council of Europe offers targeted action in its 47 member states to assist in increasing the protection of children’s rights. Its transversal programme “Building a Europe for and with Children” has focused on mainstreaming children’s rights into all policy areas and developing a holistic child-rights-based approach that is complementary to the United Nations agenda. New standards and policy guidelines have been drafted and adopted. The current strategy for the programme has the goal of promoting these standards and tools and assisting member states to translate, disseminate and implement them in practice. The four areas that are singled out for particular action under the current strategy are: to promote child-friendly services and systems; eliminate all forms of violence against children; guarantee the rights of children in vulnerable situations, and promote child participation. In response to the first action area, Guidelines are available for professionals to help them guarantee children’s effective access to and adequate treatment in justice. This tool is being used by the European Commission and the Fundamental Rights Agency in a study and research project. There are also Guidelines on child-friendly health care to help professionals adapt their working methods using a child-centred approach. A further standard is available on children’s rights and social services friendly to children and families for ensuring that children lacking or placed outside parental care are given adequate treatment. Other areas such as tools in favour of positive parenting and for increased knowledge of democratic citizenship and human rights education, including children’s rights education, have also been developed. Concerning the second area of action to eliminate all forms of violence against children, the main focus has been on combating sexual violence against children. The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote Convention) is the key instrument to ensure that states have in place a solid legislative, institutional and practical framework to prevent and combat sexual violence against children. The Council of Europe ONE in FIVE Campaign to stop sexual violence against children (running until November 2015 and followed by a European Day (18 November) on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse), complements the awareness-raising efforts on this subject. Protecting children in vulnerable situations is multifaceted and is covered under the Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies 13 strategy via focused action targeting the rights of children at risk and in care, for which publications have been produced, such as “Discover your Rights!” (for children in care) and Securing Children’s Rights (for the professionals working with children in care). Children in detention and Roma children also figure among the groups of children singled out for deserving particu
{"title":"The Council of Europe action in favour of children’s rights: helping professionals working with children make the best use of the available standards","authors":"R. Jensdóttir","doi":"10.21427/D7RT56","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7RT56","url":null,"abstract":"The Council of Europe offers targeted action in its 47 member states to assist in increasing the protection of children’s rights. Its transversal programme “Building a Europe for and with Children” has focused on mainstreaming children’s rights into all policy areas and developing a holistic child-rights-based approach that is complementary to the United Nations agenda. New standards and policy guidelines have been drafted and adopted. The current strategy for the programme has the goal of promoting these standards and tools and assisting member states to translate, disseminate and implement them in practice. The four areas that are singled out for particular action under the current strategy are: to promote child-friendly services and systems; eliminate all forms of violence against children; guarantee the rights of children in vulnerable situations, and promote child participation. In response to the first action area, Guidelines are available for professionals to help them guarantee children’s effective access to and adequate treatment in justice. This tool is being used by the European Commission and the Fundamental Rights Agency in a study and research project. There are also Guidelines on child-friendly health care to help professionals adapt their working methods using a child-centred approach. A further standard is available on children’s rights and social services friendly to children and families for ensuring that children lacking or placed outside parental care are given adequate treatment. Other areas such as tools in favour of positive parenting and for increased knowledge of democratic citizenship and human rights education, including children’s rights education, have also been developed. Concerning the second area of action to eliminate all forms of violence against children, the main focus has been on combating sexual violence against children. The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote Convention) is the key instrument to ensure that states have in place a solid legislative, institutional and practical framework to prevent and combat sexual violence against children. The Council of Europe ONE in FIVE Campaign to stop sexual violence against children (running until November 2015 and followed by a European Day (18 November) on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse), complements the awareness-raising efforts on this subject. Protecting children in vulnerable situations is multifaceted and is covered under the Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies 13 strategy via focused action targeting the rights of children at risk and in care, for which publications have been produced, such as “Discover your Rights!” (for children in care) and Securing Children’s Rights (for the professionals working with children in care). Children in detention and Roma children also figure among the groups of children singled out for deserving particu","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"15 1","pages":"3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67747951","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}