Childhood, Transition and Social Justice

With a focus on Northern Ireland, this book reveals how complex interpersonal and structural relations, including age, class, gender, sexuality, culture, religion, abilities and geographical location, shape the lives, identities, opportunities and regulation of children and young people.

While marginalisation occurs throughout advanced capitalist democracies, Northern Ireland presents a unique context. Decades-long conflict involving state and non-state armed groups ended in 1998, yet it remains a society divided by politics and religion. Exploring the experiences of children, young people and their advocates, this book reveals the changing dynamics of everyday life within the political, economic and socio-cultural conditions that contextualise it, and analyses the significance of the ‘children’s rights agenda’. Including coverage of media representations, participation in decision-making, civic engagement, education, access to space and place, regulation and policing, the legacy of the Conflict, and the deficit in children's rights, it identifies the reforms necessary to achieve social justice and implement a positive rights agenda.

Relevant to practitioners, policymakers and politicians, the book has universal significance for democratic states, particularly those transitioning from armed conflict. It will also appeal to students and scholars within social sciences, including criminology, law, childhood and youth studies, and education.