Children’s Rights and Children’s Development: An Integrated Approach

Book excerpt: Offers an assessment of how children’s rights take shape and are realized at various stages of child development and, in turn, can and should inform law and policy Children’s rights and child development frameworks are critical to understanding children’s lived experiences, advancing child wellbeing, and implementing children’s rights. However, research in the two fields has proceeded largely on separate tracks. Children’s Rights and Child Development seeks to forge opportunities to deepen understanding about children’s rights in light of the scientific research on child development to inform fresh perspectives on research, law, and policy affecting children. Drawing on existing literature, studies, and research, Children’s Rights and Child Development provides an in-depth examination of the fundamental stages in childhood development—early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence. The book goes beyond the often very general language in law and policies that considers children as a homogenous group. It delineates how the rights of young people can be understood at each stage of development and how this can, and should, inform law and policy on children’s rights. Integrating children’s perspectives with the expertise from leading scholars in children’s rights and child development, Todres and Kilkelly reveal how an integrated approach to child rights and child development can be most impactful to child advocacy. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in child advocacy, offering insight into how the rights of young people can be understood at different stages of development, in a developmentally appropriate and rights compliant manner.