The following are extracts from 2 x essays submitted for external examination for the MA in Childhood and Youth Studies course 2011/12:
Extract 1
Title: Why is the dominant perception of parental separation that it is negative for children?
Conclusion
It cannot be doubted that there are aspects of parental separation that are negative for children. But the perception that it is overwhelmingly negative, to the extent that all 'children of divorce' have negative future prospects, has been shown to be incorrect. Parental separation has been proven to only carry severe or long-lasting impacts for a minority of children. We now have a clear understanding of the triggers for negative impacts, and more research into what stimulates resilience in children is being promoted.
What is interesting about research into the impacts of parental separation on children is that it is continually superseding itself. While research findings from the 1970s and 1980s emphasised mostly negative impacts, as society's attitudes and practices have changed so has the focus of research. More recent research has better explored cause and effect, and has controlled for other factors than parental separation that pre-dispose children to negative outcomes - such as poverty levels. Parental separation is not a static phenomenon. The impact of it changes as society and individuals change.
Equally, children are not static beings. The very nature of childhood is that it is a process of change and development. Considering the emerging research into children's resilience and the lack of conclusive findings so far, it seems apparent that more qualitative forms of study are required to better understand why one child adjusts more positively than another to a similar set of challenges. Theories such as Family Systems Theory and the Ecology of Human Development which study webs of relationships and the multiple realms in which children develop, could be extremely beneficial for futher studies into the impacts of parental separation on children - particularly into what makes children resilient and therefore limits negative impacts.
Extract 2
Title: Child Labour in Africa: An examination of its impact on children and youth wellbeing
Introduction
Research evidence has shown that child labour is both an historical and a modern phenomenon, yet a debatable and controversial one. On the other hand, its impact on children's and youth's wellbeing - particularly those taking part in the worst forms of labour - is a matter of global concern. The International Labour Organisation [ILO] (2002) has estimated that some 246 million children aged 5-17 years are engaged in child labour around the world. Of these, some 179 million are caught in the worst forms (ILO, 2002, 2006). Roughly 2.5 million children are "economically active" within developed economies, 2.4 million in transition countries, 127.3 million in Asia and the Pacific, 17.4 million in Latin America and the Caribbean, 48 million in Sub-Saharan Africa and 13.4 million in the Middle East and North Africa. The ILO acknowledges that Africa has the highest incidence of child labour in the world, with 41 per cent of all African children between the age of five and 14 being involved in some form of economic activity, compared with 21 per cent in Asia and 17 per cent in Latin America.
It is reasonable to argue that elimination of child labour is a global vision and an ILO goal. However, the fact remains that in Africa and elsewhere in the third world, the work these children do is often deemed absolutely necessary for their own survival as well as that of their families (James et al, 1998: 108-111). Poverty has been cited as the major contributary factor to child labour (UNICEF, 2001; Bourdillon et al, 2010: 66). While the relevant international bodies, including the ILO Conventions, CRC Conventions and a number of regional and domestic legislations, call for the elimination of child