IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v117y2020ics0190740920304679.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Capabilities and well-being of child and adolescent social services clients in the Czech Republic

Author

Listed:
  • Punová, Monika
  • Navrátil, Pavel
  • Navrátilová, Jitka

Abstract

The aim of this empirical paper was to answer the following question: “What are the desirable and the actually achieved capabilities in relation to the well-being of children and adolescents using social services in the Czech Republic from their own point of view, from that of their parents or foster parents and social workers?“ Our research study was based on thecapability approach and looked at the well-being of vulnerable children who are clients of social service providers in the Czech Republic. It was conducted through a combination of qualitative and quantitative research techniques. Children and adolescents aged 11–22 years (n = 28) and their parents or foster parents (n = 16) were surveyed using the technique of in-depth semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey. We also held a focus group with 15 social workers working with these clients. The study has shown that what children need the most for their sense of well-being are harmonious relationships, particularly with their parents. This finding is all the more serious as parents are not fully aware of the importance of their love and care for their children’s lives, as also evidenced in our empirical findings. The research finding that we consider the most disturbing is that children lack capabilities that would allow them to experience a meaningful life. This is most pronounced in their views of their future, which they do not associate with any hope. They do not see their future as providing opportunities for a positive life experience. Another key finding is that both children and parents marginalise capabilities developed through education. What is particularly alarming is that parents were much more likely to marginalise education than their children. Although these children are users of social services, these services proved unable to provide adequate formal support for them and their parents. Based on our study of children and families using social services we recommend that social services should focus on fostering the relationship between parents/foster parents and children. Particular attention should be paid to developing adolescents’ potential, while taking into consideration their natural need to learn new skills so that they could live a more active life translating into a more meaningful life experience at present, as well as into a sustained sense of meaning in life in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Punová, Monika & Navrátil, Pavel & Navrátilová, Jitka, 2020. "Capabilities and well-being of child and adolescent social services clients in the Czech Republic," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:117:y:2020:i:c:s0190740920304679
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105280
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740920304679
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105280?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Santosh Mehrotra & Mario Biggeri, 2002. "The Subterranean Child Labour Force: Subcontracted home-based manufacturing in Asia," Papers inwopa02/23, Innocenti Working Papers.
    2. ., 2006. "Capability Approach," Chapters, in: David Alexander Clark (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Development Studies, chapter 8, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Ingrid Robeyns, 2003. "Sen'S Capability Approach And Gender Inequality: Selecting Relevant Capabilities," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(2-3), pages 61-92.
    4. Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, 2003. "The Human Development Paradigm: Operationalizing Sen'S Ideas On Capabilities," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(2-3), pages 301-317.
    5. Mario Biggeri & Renato Libanora & Stefano Mariani & Leonardo Menchini, 2006. "Children Conceptualizing their Capabilities: Results of a Survey Conducted during the First Children's World Congress on Child Labour," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 59-83.
    6. Martha Nussbaum, 2003. "Capabilities As Fundamental Entitlements: Sen And Social Justice," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(2-3), pages 33-59.
    7. Alkire, Sabina, 2005. "Valuing Freedoms: Sen's Capability Approach and Poverty Reduction," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199283316, Decembrie.
    8. David A. Clark, 2002. "Visions of Development," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2711.
    9. Sabina Alkire & Rufus Black, 1997. "A practical reasoning theory of development ethhics: furthering the capabilities approach," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 9(2), pages 263-279.
    10. Asher Ben-Arieh, 2005. "Where are the Children? Children’s Role in Measuring and Monitoring Their Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 74(3), pages 573-596, December.
    11. David Clark, 2003. "Concepts and Perceptions of Human Well-being: Some Evidence from South Africa," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(2), pages 173-196.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David A. Clark & University of Manchester, 2005. "The Capability Approach: Its Development, Critiques and Recent Advances," Economics Series Working Papers GPRG-WPS-032, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    2. Sung-Geun Kim, 2016. "What Have We Called as “Poverty”? A Multidimensional and Longitudinal Perspective," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 129(1), pages 229-276, October.
    3. Tara Natarajan, 2014. "Shifting economics: fundamental questions and Amartya K. Sen’s pragmatic humanism," The Journal of Philosophical Economics, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, The Journal of Philosophical Economics, vol. 8(1), November.
    4. Kuklys, W. & Robeyns, I., 2004. "Sen’s Capability Approach to Welfare Economics," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0415, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    5. Wiebke Kuklys & Ingrid Robeyns, 2004. "Sens's Capability Approach to Welfare Economics," Papers on Strategic Interaction 2004-03, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Strategic Interaction Group.
    6. Antoinette Baujard & Muriel Gilardone, 2017. "Sen is not a capability theorist," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 1-19, January.
    7. Roberta Sferrazzo & Renato Ruffini, 2021. "Are Liberated Companies a Concrete Application of Sen’s Capability Approach?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(2), pages 329-342, May.
    8. D. Jayaraj & S. Subramanian, 2007. "Out of School and (Probably) in Work," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 2(2), pages 177-226, July.
    9. Sabina Alkire, Jose Manuel Roche, 2011. "Beyond Headcount: Measures that Reflect the Breadth and Components of Child Poverty," OPHI Working Papers 45, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    10. Maria Ana Lugo & Esfandiar Maasoumi, 2008. "Multidimensional Poverty Measures from an Information Theory Perspective," Working Papers 85, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    11. repec:lib:00johs:v:13:y:2017:i:1:p:22-33 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Mauro, Vincenzo & Biggeri, Mario & Grilli, Leonardo, 2015. "Does Community-Based Rehabilitation Enhance the Multidimensional Well-Being of Deprived Persons With Disabilities? A Multilevel Impact Evaluation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 190-202.
    13. Greco, Giulia & Skordis-Worrall, Jolene & Mkandawire, Bryan & Mills, Anne, 2015. "What is a good life? Selecting capabilities to assess women's quality of life in rural Malawi," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 69-78.
    14. David A. Clark, 2007. "Adaptation, Poverty and Well-Being: Some Issues and Observations with Special Reference to the Capability Approach and Development Studies," Economics Series Working Papers GPRG-WPS-081, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    15. Juhász, Judit, 2018. "A méltó emberi élet lehetősége [Human dignity for all]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(12), pages 1299-1319.
    16. José Roche, 2013. "Monitoring Progress in Child Poverty Reduction: Methodological Insights and Illustration to the Case Study of Bangladesh," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 112(2), pages 363-390, June.
    17. Antoinette Baujard & Muriel Gilardone, 2017. "Sen is not a capability theorist," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 1-19, January.
    18. Jean-Francois Trani & Mario Biggeri & Vincenzo Mauro, 2013. "The Multidimensionality of Child Poverty: Evidence from Afghanistan," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 112(2), pages 391-416, June.
    19. Sophie Mitra & Kris Jones & Brandon Vick & David Brown & Eileen McGinn & Mary Alexander, 2013. "Implementing a Multidimensional Poverty Measure Using Mixed Methods and a Participatory Framework," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 110(3), pages 1061-1081, February.
    20. Paul Mark Mitchell & Tracy E. Roberts & Pelham M. Barton & Joanna Coast, 2017. "Applications of the Capability Approach in the Health Field: A Literature Review," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 133(1), pages 345-371, August.
    21. Mónica Domínguez-Serrano & Lucía Moral Espín, 2018. "From Relevant Capabilities to Relevant Indicators: Defining an Indicator System for Children’s Well-Being in Spain," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(1), pages 1-25, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:117:y:2020:i:c:s0190740920304679. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.