Unit name | Children in Society II: Children and Contemporary Society |
---|---|
Unit code | SOWK10002 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | C/4 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Dr. Aghtaie |
Open unit status | Open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | School for Policy Studies |
Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit will critically analyse the various international perspectives on children and young people’s (CYP) place in contemporary society. These perspectives will be examined through reference to theoretical debates on various substantive topics including: concepts of childhood; parenting; children’s rights; CYPs access to their rights; family policies; the impact of global poverty; models of education; health, environment and risk in relation to CYP; power, punishment and crime; young people and violence; and input from the NSPCC.
There will be a particular emphasis on children’s rights on a local, national and international level. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and children’s rights and welfare under UK law will be examined in addition to looking at policies, laws and practices in the European and wider context.
Aims:
After successful completion of the unit, the student will be able to demonstrate:
There will be an emphasis throughout on childrens rights
After successful completion of the unit, the student will be able to demonstrate:
There will be an emphasis throughout on children’s rights
Lectures and classes. Group investigation and presentation of an assigned topic. Group activities/ exercises.
Formative assessment is by:
(a) a seminar presentation of a small group project which has been jointly researched, and
(b) an essay of not more than 2,500 words on a topic chosen from a list of options.
Summative assessment is by 3 hour unseen examination
Children’s Rights Alliance for England (2013) State of Children’s Rights in England, London: CRAE, available at http://www.crae.org.uk/publications-resources/state-of-childrens-rights-in-england-2013/
Freeman, M. (2011) ‘Children’s Rights as Human Rights: Reading the UNCRC’, in J. Qvortrup, W. Corsaro and M.S. Honig (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Childhood Studies, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp377-393
James, A. and James, A. (2008) Key Concepts in Childhood Studies. London:Sage. [Q767.9 JAM]
Jones, P. & Welch, S. (2010) Rethinking Children’s Rights: Attitudes in Contemporary Society, London: Continuum
Kehily, M. (Ed.) (2004) An Introduction to Childhood Studies. Maidenhead: Open University Press. [HQ767.9 INT]
Maynard, T. and Thomas, N. (Eds.) (2009) An Introduction to Early Childhood Studies (2nd Edition). London: Sage
Montgomery, H. (2010) ‘The Rights of the Child. Rightfully Mine!’, in D. Kassem, L. Murphy and E. Taylor (eds) Key Issues in Childhood and Youth Studies, London; Routledge, pp149-158,
Qvortrup, J. et al. (2011) The Palgrave Handbook of Childhood Studies. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Key Websites
“Article 12”: http://www.article12.org/>
Children are Unbeatable Alliance: www.childrenareunbeatable.org.uk
Children’s Rights Alliance http://www.crae.org.uk/>
International Bureau for Children’s Rights http://ibcr.org/eng/>
NSPCC http://www.nspcc.org.uk/
Oxfam http://www.oxfam.org>
Save the Children http://www.savethechildren.org
UNICEF www.unicef.org