Österreichisches Jahrbuch für Soziale Arbeit

Children†™s Participation in Research: An Approach to Social Work Research

Zusammenfassung

Recent decades have seen an increase in the number of studies involving children and based on participatory research methods and approaches. This rise has been both national and international, mirroring the expansion of the transdisciplinary, internationally rooted field of Childhood Studies. This article outlines three research projects and examines their varied approaches to research, ranging from the question of how participation in communicative practice can be reflected in data collection with children, to the implementation of child rights projects whose research design and data analysis take children†™s participation into account. The authors†™ intention is to draw the attention of the profession and discipline of social work to the significance of child-rights-centred research, and to stimulate its scrupulous advancement. The article underlines how important it is to demand children†™s participation and to empower children during participatory research processes complying with the obligatory implementation of children†™s rights. Purely protective patterns of conduct can be expanded into emancipatory processes of experience and education.