What are children’s rights and where do they come from? Why is it necessary for children and young people to have their rights defined? What difficulties do practitioners face in developing a rights based approach to their daily work with children, young people and their families? What can children and young people tell us about their experiences and perspectives regarding rights?

This milestone text by a multidisciplinary author team offers an accessible and conceptually coherent guide to the theory and practice of children’s rights, grounded in extensive research. It explains the provisions of the United Nations Convention for the Rights of the Child; identifies developments in legislation and policy; and explores the tensions and opportunities inherent in applying a rights based approach in a range of contexts, including:

Education

Child protection and family support

Kinship care, fostering and residential care

Mental, physical and sexual health

Leisure and play

Youth justice

New risks including human trafficking, child sexual exploitation and online abuse.

Rich in insight from both young peoples’ and professionals’ experiences, the book explores how a children’s rights perspective can be applied in combination with other professional discourses including early intervention and prevention; risk assessment; evidence based practice; and relationship based practice. It considers children’s participation in decision-making and the importance of effective monitoring and coordination in practice. Timely and wide-ranging, this book is essential reading for students and practitioners across the fields of education, health and social care.