Social representations of children's rights: The point of view of adolescents

Abstract

This article deals with social representations of children's rights, analysed in a sample of Italian adolescents with differing educational experiences. A questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 410 Italian adolescents aged between 13 and 17 attending four different types of school: lower middle school, high school, technical college and vocational training centre. The questionnaire contained an open-ended question on the rights of children and adolescents and a structured part concerning: attribution of responsibility to five agencies (government, family, school, voluntary associations and the police force), the degree to which rights are respected in Italy, reference values and explanations for violations of rights. The results show that representations of children's rights are organised differently in the four groups of subjects as a function of the dynamic interplay of social, personal and educational experiences.