Social exclusion and poverty: children's agency and perspectives

For politicians, campaigners and academics alike, the conjunction of the words ‘children’ and ‘poverty’ (or social exclusion) tends to be associated with a discourse of victimhood. There is a plethora of evidence about the harm caused to children who grow up in poverty in the UK, let alone worldwide (Bradshaw and Mayhew, 2005). It is undoubtedly important that poverty should be tackled, because of the effects on children's current well-being, as well as their future life chances. Children brought up in poverty tend to have poorer than average health and educational achievements. They are less likely to receive regular pocket money, go on school trips and holidays, or to be able to afford adequate clothing (Middleton et al, 1995; Bradshaw, 2002).

Until recently, though, little has been heard from children themselves. Perspectives that emphasise children's agency stress the importance of understanding their viewpoints, recognising that children are not passive in the face of poverty or indeed any other situation (Ridge, 2002). This viewpoint does not dissociate itself from the idea that poverty is wrong and harmful in its effects, but leads to a more subtle understanding of its diverse implications, which include differentiated responses.

Children's resilience

Within this context, the concept of resilience has gained currency. This was a guiding concept for recent pieces of work by the authors and colleagues that form the basis for this chapter. These comprised two linked studies on parenting and children's resilience in disadvantaged communities (Seaman et al, 2006) and a literature review on resilience (Hill et al, 2006).

In academic circles, the idea of resilience has become increasingly popular in reaction to a previous literature that emphasised the negative consequences of a range of difficulties or risk factors including poverty, family disruption and abuse. Without minimising the ill effects of such childhood disadvantages, proponents of resilience observed that some children did well despite such early experiences (Rutter, 1985; Fonagy et al, 1994). They also drew out the practical implication that, as well as reducing risk factors in children's lives, a helpful strategy to promote children's well-being would be to enhance those features of their lives that enabled them to overcome difficulties (Gilligan, 1997; Luthar, 2006).