Children's perspectives on child well-being : a pathway to a sustainable futures

Abstract

Child well-being is a multi-dimensional concept that includes physical, mental, social, cognitive, material, and environmental domains, which are interrelated. Children’s well-being influences their quality of life during childhood and later as adults, and is influenced by the social, economic, and environmental contexts in which they live. Many children in South Africa live in contexts that have negative effects on their well-being, for example poverty, negative family environments, and high levels of crime. Research on child well-being tend to focus on information gained from adults. This study – one of a group research project – aimed to explore children’s perspectives on child well-being as a pathway to sustainable futures for them. The ecological systems theory formed the theoretical framework of the study. To explore children’s subjective well-being, an interpretivist research paradigm and a qualitative research approach were followed. As applied research, the research findings could inform social work practice. The instrumental case study design was relevant for gaining an understanding on what well-being meant a sample of 11 children in middle childhood who were recruited means of purposive and snowball sampling within two communities in Mpumalanga province. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews based on an interview schedule as well as visual communication cards and analysed by means of thematic analysis. The study was conducted by following relevant research ethical principles. The participants identified children who are living well as those who are happy, healthy, loved, cared for and successful, and viewed factors in the microsystem as especially important for children’s well-being. Parents, siblings, extended family members, pets, teachers, and friends as well as positive home and school environments were seen as important for children’s well- being. Furthermore, meeting children’s basic needs, access to community resources such as housing, schools and healthcare services, and a clean and unpolluted natural environment would enhance child well-being. The participants believed that children could play an active role in improving their own well-being and influence conditions that shape child well-being. The study shows that children in middle childhood can participate in matters related to child well-being. Social workers and other professionals must thus take children’s perspectives into account. Children’s well-being must be a priority to ensure sustainable futures for them and social workers must act as advocates by focusing on factors in all ecological levels that influence the well-being of children. To gain more comprehensive information on child well- being in South Africa, it is recommended that more research studies on the topic be conducted with diverse study samples and in diverse contexts.