Children’s participation in family decision-making [E/NI/S/W]
One of the National Children’s Bureau/Barnardos ‘Highlight’ series (no.196), this paper focuses on children’s participation in the ‘private’ decision-making of everyday family life.
It examines a small but growing body of literature and discusses a number of key findings which include:
- Family decision-making is part of an informal, on-going interaction between parents and children
- Parents have power to structure the level of participation children are allowed, but children can increase this by negotiating within the boundaries set by their parents
- The concept of a democratic family appears inadequate, as children are nearly always in a less powerful position than their parents and so family decision-making structures are essentially unequal, with children’s involvement working within adult structures rather than in parallel with them
Contains a useful list of references.
Produced by the Library & Information Service of the National Children’s Bureau (NCB), together with Barnardos, January 2003.
Available from the NCB Library and Information Service.
Tel: 020 7843 6008
Email: library@ncb.org.uk
Price: £2.00
