The Nature of Children's Well-Being: Theory and Practice (Children’s Well-Being: Indicators and Research Book 9)

This book presents new findings that deal with different facets of the well-being of children and their relevance to the proper treatment of children. The well-being of children is considered against the background of a wide variety of legal, political, medical, educational and familial perspectives. The book addresses diverse issues from a range of disciplinary perspectives using a variety of methods. It has three major sections with the essays in each section loosely organized about a common general theme. The first section focuses on issues concerning the relation between children’s well-being and autonomy or agency. The second section deals with child well-being insofar as the limits of parental authority are concerned. The third section has a more applied orientation and addresses a variety of public policy controversies involving the interpretation of children’s well-being. Front Matter....Pages i-xix Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Children, Adults, Autonomy and Well-Being....Pages 3-14 Autonomy and Children’s Well-Being....Pages 15-33 The ‘Intrinsic Goods of Childhood’ and the Just Society....Pages 35-52 Agency, Authority and the Vulnerability of Children....Pages 53-64 Enhancing the Capacity for Autonomy: What Parents Owe Their Children to Make Their Lives Go Well....Pages 65-84 Utilitarianism, Welfare, Children....Pages 85-103 Front Matter....Pages 105-105 Paternalism in Education and the Future....Pages 107-122 Anti-perfectionist Childrearing....Pages 123-140 Respecting Children and Children’s Dignity....Pages 141-156 Who Decides?....Pages 157-175 Front Matter....Pages 177-177 The Concept of Best Interests in Clinical Practice....Pages 179-190 Children’s Well-Being and the Family-Dilemma....Pages 191-208 Child Welfare and Child Protection: Medicalization and Scandalization as the New Norms in Dealing with Violence Against Children....Pages 209-225 Children’s Rights, Well-Being, and Sexual Agency....Pages 227-246 The Grounds and Limits of Parents’ Cultural Prerogatives: The Case of Circumcision....Pages 247-262 This book presents new℗lfindings that deal with different facets of the well-being of children and their relevance to the proper treatment of children. The well-being of children is considered against the background of a wide variety of legal, political, medical, educational and familial perspectives. The book addresses diverse issues from a range of disciplinary perspectives using a variety of methods. It has three major sections with the essays in each section loosely organized about a common general theme. The first section focuses on issues concerning the relation between childrenĺls well-being and autonomy or agency. The second section deals with child well-being insofar as the limits of parental authority are concerned. The third section has a more applied orientation and addresses a variety of public policy controversies involving the interpretation of childrenĺls well-being