For completion of my Master’s in Human Rights, in 2011 I created a comprehensive theory for the promotion of children’s rights. The theory is called The Child-Centric Framework, CCF, and it is just as important today as when I created it.
Please feel free to read, share, speak about, reflect upon and ask questions about the framework should any arise.
Check out the abstract below to get an idea for what CCF is about or watch the video to hear a brief overview.
To read the full theory for yourself click on the hyperlink below to access the PDF file.
Abstract
The children’s rights movement is responsible for both the protection and empowerment of children. While the protectionist objective of the movement has made great strides since the signing of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, the empowerment objective has remained relatively stagnant. This dissertation aims to develop a pragmatic cross-disciplinary theory, the child-centric framework, in order to address the stagnation of the empowerment agenda, and approach the children’s rights debate in a new way.
The child-centric framework, CCF, was developed through the interrelation of two complimentary psychological theories of development, attachment theory and ecological systems theory, and the influence public policies have on the social conception of the child. CCF contends that the prioritization of children’s rights in public policy is a sound policymaking approach in order to secure the most optimal development of the individuals within its jurisdiction, which in turn creates the most optimal functioning society. CCF is based on three premises. First, the prioritization of children’s rights in public policy will affect our social conception of the child at a macro level. Second, the social conception of the child affects how all members of society interact with children, which in turn, according to bio-ecological systems theory, has a direct effect on the course of the child’s development. Third, according to attachment theory, the interactions an infant and child experiences at the early stages of life, namely with the primary caregiver, affects how that individual will perceive himself and interact with others throughout the rest of his life.
This essay concludes with the suggestion that if policymakers prioritize children’s rights in policymaking, they will be refining what it means to be a child, thereby positively influencing the child’s course of human development, and speculatively creating more secure individuals to fill the ranks of future society.
arielle london 