Christine Hallett

Young People's Participation in Decisions Affecting Their Welfare.

This article focuses on young people and participation, drawing on a study of the Scottish Childrens Hearings system, titled Deciding in Childrens Interests, which was conducted at the University of Stirling between 1994 and 1997. It notes the surprising paucity of recent research on the hearings system, given that it was one of the earliest examples of young people systematically participating in decisions affecting them in a child welfare context. The authors consider several dimensions of participation in relation to the hearings system and other decision-making arenas. They suggest that participation rights may have become a reality more for young people involved in welfare systems than for other young people in the UK.

Child Protection in Europe: Convergence or Divergence?.

Christine Hallett Is Reader In Social Polley, University of Stirling, Scotland Comparative analysis in child protection Apart from the intrinsic interest of studying European child protection systems and learning from the approaches of others, it is particularly important currently in the European context, in the move towards a single market and a degree of harmonisation in economic and, to a lesser but still important extent, social policies. There are, however, important caveats. One of the most significant is that much of the available comparative data about child abuse is at a national level, yet there are significant variations not only between but also within countries. Some, the UK and France for example, have relatively uniform systems at a national level. There are, of course, significant differences within the UK, notably the separate system of juvenile justice in Scotland with the Childrens Hearings system, but viewed from outside there are many commonalities in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. For example: