A lattice of participation: reflecting on examples of children's and young people's collective engagement in influencing social welfare policies and practices

Abstract

The article introduces four case studies from Wales, France and Finland and explores the situated, intergenerational and dynamic nature of collective participation in child welfare settings. Collective participation is conceived of as a process of engagement in which children and young people have some influence over the initiation or direction of a project; and as seeking a product, or outcome. The case studies represent a range of forms of collective engagement and highlight some key resources which supported children's participation (communicative spaces, time, money, knowledge, social position, attitudes, social networks, institutional commitment, equipment, food and transport). Challenges encountered in achieving effective participation in different nations within Europe are also identified, related to generation barriers and the distribution of resources. These elements are used to construct a lattice of participation: a model for conceptualising children and young people's collective engagement in participatory projects. The model provides a tool for visualising how, at different stages of a project, actors (children, young facilitators, adults and institutions) exercise influence by directing the use of different resources, such as finance and time. It invites reflection on why influence is limited in some stages of a participatory project, and how it is supported in other stages.

Artikkelissa tarkastellaan neljän tapaustutkimuksen avulla kollektiivista osallistumista lastensuojelupalveluissa sukupolvien välisiin suhteisiin ja paikallisiin käytäntöihin liittyvänä dynaamisena kysymyksenä. Artikkelin tapausesimerkit tulevat Walesista, Ranskasta ja Suomesta. Kollektiivinen osallistuminen ymmärretään prosessina jossa lapsilla ja nuorilla on vaikutusvaltaa tarkasteltavana olevan hankkeen syntyyn, tavoitteisiin ja myös lopputulokseen. Tapausesimerkit edustavat erilaisia kollektiivisen osallistumisen muotoja korostaen erityisesti osallistumista tukevien voimavarojen tärkeyttä (kommunikatiiviset tilat, aika, raha, tieto, sosiaalinen asema, asenteet, sosiaaliset verkostot, institutionaalinen sitoutuminen, tekniset ja tilalliset varusteet, ruoka ja liikkumismahdollisuudet). Kolmessa eurooppalaisessa maassa toteutettujen tapaustutkimusten avulla tuodaan esiin osallistumisen haasteita keskittymällä erityisesti voimavarojen jakaantumiseen ja sukupolvittaisiin asemiin. Näiden elementtien pohjalta rakennettu osallistumisen ristikko havainnollistaa lasten ja nuorten mahdollisuuksia toimia hankkeissa. Ristikkomalli tarjoaa työkalun jonka avulla voi visualisoida eri toimijoiden (lasten, nuorten fasilitaattoreiden, aikuisten ja instituutioiden) mahdollisuuksia vaikuttaa hankkeiden eri vaiheisiin ja erityisesti taloudellisiin ja ajankäytöllisiin kysymyksiin. Malli kutsuu esimerkiksi pohtimaan miksi vaikutusmahdollisuudet osallistumishankkeiden eri vaiheissa ovat erityisen rajoitettuja tai sallittuja.

Cet article présente quatre études de cas du pays de Galles, de la France et de la Finlande et explore les qualités locales, intergénérationnelles et dynamiques de la participation collective dans les services de protection de l'enfance. La participation collective est conçue comme un processus d'engagement dans lequel les enfants et les jeunes exercent une certaine influence sur l'initiation ou la direction d'un projet et comme cherchant à produire un résultat. Les études de cas représentent un éventail de formes d'engagement collectif et mettent en évidence certaines ressources clés qui ont soutenu la participation des enfants (espaces de communication, temps, argent, connaissance, position sociale, attitudes, réseaux sociaux, engagement institutionnel, matériel, nourriture et transport). Les difficultés rencontrées dans les différents pays d'Europe, pour voir se réaliser la participation effective sont aussi identifiés et liées aux barrières générationnelles et à la répartition des ressources. Ces éléments sont utilisés pour mettre en place un treillis de participation: un modèle pour conceptualiser l'engagement collectif des enfants et des jeunes dans des projets participatifs. Le modèle fournit un outil qui permet de visualiser la manière dont, aux différentes étapes d'un projet, les acteurs (enfants, jeunes animateurs, adultes et institutions) exercent une influence en dirigeant l'utilisation de diverses ressources, tels que la finance et le temps. Il invite à la réflexion, pourquoi à certaines étapes, l'influence exercée sur un projet participatif est limitée et à d'autres, appuyée.

Keywords:

• collective participation
• child welfare
• impact
• children's participation

Avainsanat:

• kollektiivinen osallistuminen
• lastensuojelu
• vaikutusmahdollisuudet
• lasten osallistuminen

Mots clés:

• participation collective
• protection de l'enfance
• impact
• participation des enfants et des jeunes

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all the children and young people who took part in the projects described in these case studies, and the other adults who supported their participation. We are grateful to participants in the symposium on this theme at the 2013 European Congress of Social Work Research and to the Survivors and adult facilitators who commented the draft. Special thanks to Väinö Teittinen for assistance with graphic design and to the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

Funding

The work was supported by the Academy of Finland, project ‘Children's participation and intergenerational relations: The case of Children's Parliaments' (Project No. 251173) and the City of Helsinki.

Notes on contributors

Cath Larkins is a Co-Director of the Centre for Children and Young People's Participation, in the School of Social Work at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. Her research interests are in the field of children's citizenship, childhood, children and the European Union, child led research, participation and young people's self-protection.

Johanna Kiili has a PhD in Social Sciences (Social Work) and she currently works as a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä, Finland.

Kati Palsanen is a Researcher Social Worker at the Heikki Waris Institute & the Centre of Excellence on Social Welfare in the Helsinki Metropolitan, Finland.

Notes

1. The 13 stages comprise: six related to the process (setting aims, involving others, identifying themes for inquiry, deciding methods, creating data and analysing information), one involved creating various outputs (such as reports and videos) and six aimed at producing external impact (action planning, sharing findings, lobbying, changing policy and guidance, changing training and changing practice). Here we have not analysed impact on individual participants, although these are valuable dimensions of change. The fact that one stage is training and teaching probably reflects the researchers' current links with universities.

Additional information

Funding

Funding: The work was supported by the Academy of Finland, project ‘Children's participation and intergenerational relations: The case of Children's Parliaments’ (Project No. 251173) and the City of Helsinki.