Exploring the Link between Respect for Rights at the Regional Center for Children and Career Identity Development

Abstract

This study aimed to explore whether the experience of being respected at the Regional Center for Children influences the development of career identity through self-esteem and school adaptation. To investigate this, the study analyzed the hypothesized model using responses from 438 first-year middle school students (50.7% male) obtained from the 4th Wave of the second panel of Children's Panel Survey at the Regional Center for Children. The study revealed that experiences of rights being respected at the Regional Center for Children influenced the development of career identity through self-esteem and school adaptation. In other words, higher levels of self-esteem were observed when their rights were respected at the Center, facilitating better school adaptation, and ultimately leading to the development of career identity. The study concluded that the respect of children’s rights at the Regional Center played a critical role in their overall development and outlined implications for future research and practice.