There are two main approaches when it comes to dealing with children and youth; the welfare and justice based approaches. This response will compare and contrast the difference between the two, and comment on how each approach constructs childhood and youth.
The welfare based approach involves around the concern of the wellbeing of children and young people. It is used in the context of legal system to justify the intervention of children or young people from facing the criminal justice system. To the advocators of this approach, the fundamental aim is the general welfare of children and the protection of young people from the legal system through the doli incapax, which establishes children as incapable of being held responsible for their …show more content…
This according to Aries (cited in Dekker et al, 2012) stems from the 17th century, whereby children were placed in school for discipline and education in hope they would be protected. Prior to this notion, children were raised for the purpose of assisting parents and the adult society by growing up faster and becoming absorbed in the adult life and its activities as early as six or seven years of age. However, it was the influence of Christianity and its moral aspect in the 17th century that changed the attitudes and norms of the society. Children were deemed as not ready for life and the attention was brought to education and harnessing of youth in order to protect them from immoral infiltration (Petr 1992, 409). Furthermore, there was an accepted notion that children are doomed for sin and evil if not controlled and trained by parents and school. The welfare system encourages this similar system, by helping children who are juvenile detention and rehabilitating them back into the linear part of adulthood. Moreover, it was the rise of the concern for children that led to the concept of “best interest for the child”, a perception that has increased child abuse between 1979 and 1986 by 6.6%. Benedict comments that children are not viewed as beings in their own rights whose opinions are respected but instead they are an extension of adult’s ego and authority (Petr, 1992; Dekker et al., 2012).The concept of “best interest of the child” embedded within the welfare approach views children as dependent and vulnerable. Many commentators have argued that the approach is too paternalistic, because it constructs “best interest” by making the
The welfare based approach involves around the concern of the wellbeing of children and young people. It is used in the context of legal system to justify the intervention of children or young people from facing the criminal justice system. To the advocators of this approach, the fundamental aim is the general welfare of children and the protection of young people from the legal system through the doli incapax, which establishes children as incapable of being held responsible for their …show more content…
This according to Aries (cited in Dekker et al, 2012) stems from the 17th century, whereby children were placed in school for discipline and education in hope they would be protected. Prior to this notion, children were raised for the purpose of assisting parents and the adult society by growing up faster and becoming absorbed in the adult life and its activities as early as six or seven years of age. However, it was the influence of Christianity and its moral aspect in the 17th century that changed the attitudes and norms of the society. Children were deemed as not ready for life and the attention was brought to education and harnessing of youth in order to protect them from immoral infiltration (Petr 1992, 409). Furthermore, there was an accepted notion that children are doomed for sin and evil if not controlled and trained by parents and school. The welfare system encourages this similar system, by helping children who are juvenile detention and rehabilitating them back into the linear part of adulthood. Moreover, it was the rise of the concern for children that led to the concept of “best interest for the child”, a perception that has increased child abuse between 1979 and 1986 by 6.6%. Benedict comments that children are not viewed as beings in their own rights whose opinions are respected but instead they are an extension of adult’s ego and authority (Petr, 1992; Dekker et al., 2012).The concept of “best interest of the child” embedded within the welfare approach views children as dependent and vulnerable. Many commentators have argued that the approach is too paternalistic, because it constructs “best interest” by making the