Child Well-Being, Child Development and Family Lives

The James Seth Memorial Lecture 12 May 2009

Jane Aldgate OBE

Professor of Social Care

The Open University

What is well-being?

Many different approaches and definitions

‘Well being is no less than what a group or groups of people collectively agree makes a good life’

(Ereat and Whiting 2008)

Different approaches to measuring well-being

Includes:

• Welfare indicators• Child’s welfare and relationships• Wellness/strengths developmental approach• Well-becoming and well-being• Practitioners using well-being indicators to assess and plan for

children – Getting it right for every child• Children’s definitions of well-being

Welfare indicators York/Oxford definition 2009

(Bradshaw et al.)

7 domains of well-being:• Income• Health• Education• Housing• Environment• Crime• Children in need

Children’s welfare and relationships: UNICEF’S definition

From UNICEF (2007) Child poverty in perspective:An overview of child well-being in rich countries, Florence, UNICEF

The true measure of a nation’s standing is how well it attends to its children - their health and safety, their material security,their education and socialization, and their sense of being loved, valued, and included in the families and societies into which they are born

The wellness/strengths developmental approach

• Ecological concept allows for many influences, such as family, school, peers, neighbourhood (Prillentensky and Nelson 2002)

• Approach gets away from success/ failure model to progressing (Lorion 2000)

A more optimistic view of the potential for positive change in

childhood• Stress in early years need not affect children

permanently• With the right circumstances children can develop

resilience• Children who miss out on particular experiences can

make up ground• Healthy development can occur under a far wider

range of circumstances than was thought possible in the past

• Schaffer, R (1998), Making Decisions About Children, Oxford, Blackwell

Well-becoming (Ben Arieh 2001)

• Investment on children’s well-being now will influence how they are as adults

Well-becoming: the Scottish Government’s Outcomes for Scotland’s

Children

We want all children to become

•Confident individuals•Effective contributors•Successful learners•Responsible citizens

Practitioners’ use of well-being

The Getting it right for every child practice model

Scottish Government (2008) Guide to Getting it right for every child

www.scotland.gov.uk/gettingitright

What is Getting it right for every child?

•Common coordinated framework for planning and action across all agencies •Child at the centre•All children, young people and families get the help they need when they need it

AchievingBeing supported and guidedin their learning and in the development of their skills, confidence and self-esteem

at home, at school and in the community.

Nurtured

Having a nurturing place to live in a family setting with additional help if needed or, where this is not possible, in suitable care setting

ActiveHaving opportunities

to take part in activities, such as play, recreation

and sport, which contributeto healthy growth and development at home

and in the community Respected and

Responsible Should be involved in

decisions that affect them, should have their voices heard

and should be encouraged to play an active and responsible role

in their schools and communities

Healthy Having the highest attainable standards of physical and mental health, access to suitable health care, and support in learning to make healthy and safe choices

Safe

Protectedfrom abuse,

neglect or harmat home, at school and

in the community

Included Having help to overcome social,

educational, physical and economic inequalities and being accepted

as part of the community in which they live

and learn

Well-being

Responsible

CitizensSucces

sful

Learn

ers

Confiden

t

Indiv

idual

sEffective

Contributors

Influences on well-being – a developmental-ecological approach

There are many influences on children’s well-being, including:

• parents • wider family• school • play • space • community• children themselves

A network of support for every childA network of support for every child

Well-being and people in the child’s world

• Too simplistic to say parents are primarily responsible for children’s well-being

• Children can be influenced by their relationships with many others in their environment, including other family, friends, other adults outwith the family

• Good attachments significant in building trust and confident individuals

Attachment and children’s well-being

Attachment applies to a specific aspect of a child and parent or carer relationship and how a child represents this internally

Important because it shapes the way children relate to others: their social and emotional well-being

Attachment and caregiving

Helpful to look at attachment from two perspectives:

• The child’s attachment behaviour

• The caregiver’s response

When does attachment occur?

• From around 6 months old• In situations where children are stressed and

fearful and seek the proximity of another who is seen as stronger and wiser

• When fear is activated, attachment behaviour occurs

• When attachment behaviour is activated in a young child, curiosity and exploration are suppressed

• Loss and change will affect attachment but not necessarily permanently

The caregiver relationship

• Children’s patterns of attachment will be influenced by the behaviour of their caregivers

• The caregiver relationship refers only to those aspects of the caregiver’s behaviour that promote attachment

behaviour in the child.

Sensitivity of caregivers

• Early sensitivity very important – influences children’s internal working model

• But little connection between physical contact and later attachment in premature babies

• Sensitive caregivers can respond to individual children

Attachment and multiple carers

Three schools of thought

• 1. Hierarchy of attachment figures• 2. Children integrate all their attachments

into an internal representation• 3. Attachment relationships are independent

in their quality and influence

Multiple attachments

New thinking emphasises children’s network of attachments:

• 1.Does the person provide physical and emotional care?

• 2. Is this person a consistent presence in the child’s social network?

• 3. Is this person emotionally invested in the child?

See Aldgate and Jones in Aldgate, J.Jones, D.P.H, Rose, W. and Jeffery, C.(eds) 2006, The Developing World of the Child, London, JKP

Well-being can change

• Attachment patterns are established early in life but we now know that they can be modified by sensitive caregiving

• Attachments and caregiving can be modified throughout the life cycle.

• Children’s emotional well-being is not fixed

Children influencing their own well-being

• Children as social actors - competent commentators on their well-being (Moss 2002)

• Children have the right to comment on decisions affecting their well-being (UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: Children (Scotland) Act 1995)

• Well-being should include definitions of what is important to children (Tisdall and Davies 2004; Hill et al. 2004)

• Well-being is promoted by children being in control of their activities (Ben-Arieh 2002)

Findings from Time Well Spent*

• Qualitative study of 24 ‘looked after’ children in Scotland (7-18 years old)

• Children’s time diaries over 48 hours• Case studies of 6 individuals• Children’s evaluation of their participation

built in

* Aldgate, J. and McIntosh, M. 2006, Time Well Spent: a study of well-being and children’s daily activities, Edinburgh, Astron.

Children’s daily activities influence well-being

• Sleep• Productive activities• Contributing to the community• Spiritual activities• Travel time• Personal care: eating, getting ready• Social interaction with carers/friends• Leisure/recreation

From Ben-Arieh, A. (2002) in Vechiato et al, Evaluation in Child and Family Services, New York, Aldine de Gruyter

Relationships with adults important

Children spent at least 3 hours a day with important adults. They liked:

Talking to adultsEating with adultsGetting advice from adultsBeing affectionate with adults (hugs important)But little time spent reading with children

Relationships with other children important

• Breaks and lunchtimes important• Friends outside school vary- limited by

distance• Eating together part of learning social

behaviour• Children able to define use of space

when with peers• Children value their friendships

Children need time alone

• Being able to choose to be alone important

• Listening to music highly significant

• Reading less popular

• Watching TV way of de-stressing for some

Can children enjoy being active?

• 23 of 24 children in the study chose to do some sport

• Time varied between 1-5 hours a day• Some needed encouragement - role of adults

significant• Several children from adverse circumstances

relished the opportunity for achievement and new experiences

• Children test themselves in different ways: mountain-climbing, dancing, arts and crafts, sport

Giving children responsibility contributes to well-being

A 10 year old school monitor:

I stop dogs and cats coming into the playground or people who aren’t welcome to the school. I protect all the wee yins

The role of adults allowing children to take risks

• Children in the study enjoyed testing themselves in different ways

• Balance between keeping children safe and allowing them freedom away from adults

• Controlled adventure can enhance self-esteem

• How far can we return to the days of ‘The Famous Five’?

Children as competent commentators on their well-being

From Aldgate and McIntosh Time Well Spent

• I’ve learnt how important the time I spend with people is

• I was quite astonished at all the things I do all day.• It made me think that I don’t do much with my

time. I don’t get out enough, I sit around and watch TV and should get out more

• Yes, I have learnt I am a boring person and I do the same routine over again. But then I am not boring because I keep myself busy

• I do a lot of interesting things