Perceptions and Implementation of a Child Perspective among Professionals Working with Vulnerable Children who Have Experienced War and Crises

Abstract

ABSTRACT The child perspective, i.e. an adult understanding and viewing of a child, is frequently being discussed. However, it is open to individual interpretation as the concept is only vaguely defined. This paper focuses on factors characterising the child perspective held by adults in an organisation which treats and supports adults and children who endure mental illness as a result of war, torture, and/or life as refugees. A cross-sectional descriptive design involving qualitative data was used. Data were gathered at the Health and care department, Swedish Red Cross, through open-ended questions in a web-based questionnaire answered by 69 employees. Additionally, ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with key individuals who represented a variety of professional functions within the department. The data were combined to form a united data set used for analysis. A thematic analysis was undertaken, based on the descriptions by Braun and Clarke, and three major themes emerged. Two of these described the professionals’ perceptions in terms of a child perspective. The first, Considering the child as an individual, focused on how a child perspective encouraged the employees to create a friendly atmosphere and to seek out children’s perspectives. The second, Acknowledging the child’s rights, highlighted a view of the child perspective as involving the safeguarding of children and the provision of “voice”. The third theme, Ambiguity in implementation, described the operationalisation of the child perspective in daily work, illustrating both favourable and problematic factors. To conclude, the understanding gained by this paper could be used to raise awareness of, concretise and operationalise a child perspective in other organisations in which adults encounter children. Likewise, this understanding could be used for ongoing research, knowledge development and further discussions in terms of child-focused work and rights-related initiatives involving children.