Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The UNCRC is based on an individualized notion of the child, rather
than recognizing the communal value systems of many societies in the
global South and the ways that children's lives are embedded in rela-
tionships with their families and communities. Boyden (1997) argues
that the influence of Western discourses of psychology, social work and
law on global and national social policy has resulted in an emphasis on
individual remedial solutions and less attention being paid to the social
structural inequalities that disadvantage people. Furthermore, the
Convention is based on Western notions of the nuclear family that
emphasize biological parents' primary responsibility to meet the child's
needs, constructing non-nuclear families as deviant, despite the fact
that these often constitute the majority of family forms in the global
South (Stephens, 1995). Similarly, while the Convention addresses
child military service, which mostly affects boys, it fails to mention
child marriage, which mostly affects girls.
The UNCRC age-based definition of the 'child' as any person below
18 years of age is also problematic and overlaps with the commonly
accepted UN definition of 'youth' as young people aged 15-24 (United
Nations, 2007). The concept of 'youth' is often associated with Western
understandings of an in-between phase between childhood and adult-
hood that is marked by young people's socially expected transitions to
becoming an 'independent', 'responsible' and 'productive' adult, such
as the completion of education, entry into the labour market, moving
out of the parental home, marriage and establishing their own fami-
lies. In many societies in the global South, young people's transitions
to adulthood may be viewed as a series of gradual stages marked by
life-courseevents-suchasinitiationrites,marriageorchildbirth - rather
than being defined according to age or entry into the labour market.
The involvement of children and youth in 'unchildlike' activities
(Aitken, 2001) deemed to be morally or physically harmful and usu-
ally associated with adulthood, such as hazardous work, violence,
armed conflict or prostitution, poses a fundamental challenge to glo-
bal notions of childhood.
The UNCRC definition of the 'child' may also conflict with national
laws and policies that allow young people to engage in consensual sex-
ual relations, marry or work, for example, at age 15 or 16. Furthermore,
age is often used as the criterion for particular categories of children to
receive assistance and support as specified by international donors,
development agencies and immigration policies; this often results in
gaps in service provision and protection for youth aged 18 or over who
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