An Ecological Model of Child and Youth Participation
Gal, Tali. (2017). "An ecological model of child and youth participation." Children and Youth Services Review 79, pp. 57–64.
33 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2020
Date Written: May 29, 2017
Abstract
Children’s right to participate in decision-making processes affecting their lives has been acknowledged in local, national and international human rights documents, yet its implementation has proved to be challenging. The ability of children and youths to meaningfully participate in decision-making processes seems to be linked to a range of factors beyond a given context. This article draws on the ecological approach introduced by Bronfenbrenner (1986) in child development. It categorizes the salient themes emerging from the literature on child participation into four subjects and analyzes the relationships between them. This ecological framework stresses that to understand the phenomenon of child participation it is necessary to consider conditions and processes that affect children and youths, expanding the environment under consideration to include children’s families, communities, the professionals working with them, policy makers, and eventually, the entire regulatory regime.
Keywords: Children’s rights, youth participation, ecological model, human rights, Bronfenbrenner, decision-making
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