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If you want to help us, you need to hear us

  • Hannah Millar
    ,
  • Joanne Walker
    ,
  • Elsie Whittington
Research Output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding Chapter Peer-review

Abstract

Contextual Safeguarding (CS) offers a framework where participation is crucial to keeping young people safe in their different contexts beyond their homes. Moving from this conceptual framework to the practical creation of a system that is meaningfully informed by young people, however, presents a number of research and ethical challenges. The creation and implementation of CS systems within local authorities in England and Wales provides an opportunity to explore methodological considerations of consulting with young people on initial system design. In this chapter, we will reflect on the current child protection system and the challenges it presents when embedding participatory practices and developing CS approaches that are informed by the views of young people. Reflecting on commenced efforts to adopt a CS approach within local authorities as part of the Scale-Up Project and drawing on research into the role of participation as protection, we will discuss a number of considerations for carrying out consultative research with young people and introduce some of the emerging themes from young people who participated in the Scale-Up research areas, which, we argue, are essential for developing CS, and advocate for meaningful participatory practice in child protection systems.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding Chapter Peer-review

Host publication Subtitle

The Next Chapter

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 105-120 (16 pages)

Publication milestones

  • Published - 20/07/2023

Publication status

Published - 20/07/2023

Publisher

Policy Press, United Kingdom
9781447366423

ISBN (Electronic)

9781447366454

Chapter Number

8

External Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/626909
  • Scopus: 85167712531

Host publication title

Contextual Safeguarding

Host publication editors

  • Carlene Firmin
  • Jenny Lloyd