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Research Article

I do not want to cause additional pain …”–child protection workers’ perspectives on child participation in child protection practice

ORCID Icon &
Pages 43-59 | Received 18 Jun 2020, Accepted 03 Oct 2020, Published online: 04 Nov 2020
 

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the perspectives of child protection workers (CPWs) (n = 106) on the participation of children in child protection practice in Estonia. The findings indicated that child participation was most related to the term “asking a child’s opinion.” On a theoretical level, CPWs considered the asking of a child’s opinion to be significant in child protection practice in order to make decisions in the child’s best interests. In practice, however, asking a child’s opinion was acknowledged to be dependent on the level of development and age of the child, whether there were any custody disputes, and time factors. The reflections of CPWs indicate a protectionist approach regarding child participation because they discussed the issue of children being vulnerable and how encouraging them to participate might be detrimental to their well-being.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no potential conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Estonian Research Council under Grant PSG305.

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