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Defining children's needs in out-of-home care: Methods and challenges of a collaborative research project

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2016

Jan Mason ,
Robert Urquhart  and
Natalie Bolzan
Jan Mason
Affiliation:
School of Applied Social and Human Sciences, Social Justice and Social Change Research Centre, University of Western Sydney, Bankstown Campus, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South DC, NSW 1797. Email: jan.mason@uws.edu.au
Robert Urquhart
Affiliation:
Social Justice and Social Change Research Centre, University of Western Sydney, Bankstown Campus. Email: r.urquhart@uws.edu.au
Natalie Bolzan
Affiliation:
School of Applied Social and Human Sciences, University of Western Sydney, Bankstown Campus. Email: n.bolzan@uws.edu.au
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Abstract

The ‘future’ orientation of the out-of-home care research literature which has focused on outcomes of care has risked ignoring children's experiences of care in their ‘present(s)’. In this paper we describe a project, the design of which reflects an alternative to the traditional way of looking at childhood, of which this ‘future’ (adult constructed) orientation is part. We discuss the use of qualitative research methods to identify children's needs in care. The project has attempted to involve children as co-constructors of knowledge around their needs through participatory research methods. These methods have required us to recognise that children and their needs exist within a context of relational structures; to address the power imbalances between adult researchers and child participants; and to be flexible in responding to the consequences of a participative process. Challenges which have surfaced in the implementation of this research and our responses to them are described.

Type
Section Two: Research Methods
Information
Children Australia , Volume 28 , Special Issue 2: Special Issue: Out-of-home care: Building a national research agenda , 2003 , pp. 32 - 37
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003

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