Barriers to Children's Participation in Child Protection Practice: The Views and Experiences of Practitioners in Ghana

Abstract

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) includes provisions to ensure that children and young people have a say in decisions affecting their lives. Although a signatory to the UNCRC, Ghana is a nation where little empirical evidence has been gathered regarding the barriers that prevent children from participating in child protection. Thus, in this article, we report on findings from a qualitative study into the barriers to children's participation in child protection practice in Ghana. The study was based on qualitative interviews with 15 child protection practitioners, and a constructivist grounded theory approach was used to analyse data from the interviews. Intimidation, parental influence, communication problems, and confidentiality were identified as barriers to promoting participatory practices for children in the child protection process. The study findings suggest that engaging with children in separate rooms or spaces, away from the presence of parents and other adults, could help practitioners promote children's participation. It is recommended that practitioners should upgrade their skills for working with children by taking part in in-service training, workshops, and seminars to help address issues with communication. Practical actions suggested in this study may also be useful for other practitioners addressing similar issues.

How Can I Feel Safe at Home? Adolescents' Experiences of Family Violence in Ghana

“…Additionally, under the Ghanaian collectivist culture, core and extended family members are sometimes living under the same roof and are expected to bring up the children together. However, its hierarchical culture that accords children a low social status among the family members and requires them to relinquish autonomy, control, and power to adults is a risk factor of violence against adolescents ( 28 ). Their low status means that they are expected to surrender unquestionably to their elders, and hence are likely to endure violence and abuse in silence even if their safety is threatened ( 2 , 29 ).…”

Social Norms and Family Child Labor: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Studies mainly from Ghana [ 61 , 66 ] have shown that children are not accorded the freedom to exercise their right to participation because child participation is culturally interpreted as measures that spoil children. Child participation could lead to children disrespecting adults, since the Ghanaian culture gives enormous power to parents and adults and expects children to listen to instructions from adults [ 51 , 53 ]. Child participation could also undermine the authority of adults and elders in the community.…”

“…The rights of children in some contexts (e.g., South Africa) are seen as part of measures to undermine the authority of parents, traditional leaders [ 49 ] and elders [ 50 ]. Children in Africa are expected to act in response to the wishes and demands of their parents [ 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 ]. Children’s participation in cocoa farms is normatively interpreted as a form of agency [ 55 ].…”

Resilience among LGBTQIA+ youth in out-of-home care

“…In our study about the participation of LGBTQIA+ youth in out-of-home care, youth mentioned how they needed SOGIESC informed and trained care professionals, and an open and LGBTQIA+ affirming climate in order for them to feel at home and take decisions over their lives. Previous literature has delved into the barriers that youth experience to meaningfully participate in the decisions concerning their life, including the presence or absence of safe and supportive environments (Abdullah et al, 2018;Bouma, 2019;Gal, 2017;van Bijleveld et al, 2015).…”

“…At the system level, one challenge includes the need for laws and policies concerning children's participation and rights. These barriers limit children's opportunities to participate in decision-making processes (Abdullah et al, 2018;Bouma, 2019;Gal, 2017;Horwath et al, 2012;van Bijleveld et al, 2015).…”