Conceptualisation of Children's Rights: What Do Child Care Professionals in Northern Ireland Say?

The twentieth century began with children having virtually no universally accepted rights but ended with the most powerful international legal instrument supporting their rights: the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The challenge for interested parties in the twenty-first century is effective implementation of this Convention. However, it is also important to consider whether in practice the concept of children's rights is interpreted to protect children's interests or their choices. Whilst child care professionals are a key group for the effective implementation of children's rights, little empirical evidence exists on how they conceptualise children's rights. Therefore, an exploration of the views of child care professionals was undertaken to inform insights into how these rights are conceptualised in practice. A qualitative research approach was utilised in which in-depth interviews were conducted with senior child care professionals in Northern Ireland. The findings indicated that children's rights were perceived as a right to protect the interest of children largely in relation to provision and protection issues. Furthermore, the Convention has been the main source of understanding and application of the concept of children's rights by professionals who participated in the study.