Children’s perspectives on child well-being : a pathway to sustainable futures. a case study in Hammanskraal, Gauteng

Abstract

Well-being is understood as a person’s perception of his or her quality of life, making it an individual perspective. Children’s well-being is important for their optimal functioning during childhood and their development into adulthood. The quality of children’s social, economic and environmental contexts play an important role in their well-being, which linked to the ecological systems theory that was the theoretical framework of the study. Large numbers of children living in South Africa live in socio-economic conditions that have a negative impact on their well-being. This study was aimed at exploring the perspectives of a sample of children living in a South African context on child well-being. Listening to children’s views on well-being is important since past research studies on the topic tended to explore the views of adults. This research was conducted as an individual study that formed part of group research project on children’s views on child well-being. Well-being is personally and socially constructed; therefore, an interpretivist paradigm and qualitative research approach was applied. The research findings might be used in social work practice; therefore, the research was an applied study. Guided by an instrumental case study, purposive and snowball sampling were used to recruit 13 participants in middle childhood in Hammanskraal, Gauteng. Semi-structured interviews with the use of an interview schedule and visual communication cards were conducted to collect data. Data were analysed by means of thematic data analysis. To protect the well-being of the participants, the researcher upheld appropriate ethical principles for research. The research findings show that the participants related children’s well-being to happiness, being cared for, loved, healthy and successful. People, including parents, siblings, teachers, friends, and extended family members, as well as pets could support children’s well-being. Furthermore, children’s well-being depended on the availability of material resources in the home, community resources and a clean and safe neighbourhood and natural environment. The participants suggested that parents and adults could involve children to enhance child well-being while children could also participate in enhancing their own well-being. The research findings highlight the value of taking children’s views into account to find out what well-being means to them. Children’s well-being is multi-faceted and is influenced by factors at all ecological levels in children’s lives. Social workers should therefore adopt a holistic view of children’s well-being and plan relevant interventions on all ecological levels to enhance the well-being of children in South Africa. Children’s views on well-being must be considered to promote sustainable futures for them. Key concepts: - Child, child well-being, sustainable development, sustainable future, child participation.