CYP5072 - Children and the Law

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

1 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the legal construction of children in health, education, the family and criminal law;
2 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of key legal cases and explain their importance and implications for children;
3 Demonstrate the ability to place legal constructions of childhood in wider social, cultural, economic and political dimensions;
4 Demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate the construction of children in statute and case law as it relates to different constructions of childhood and theories of children’s rights.

Content:

The course will:
• explore the legal construction of children and perspectives on children’s rights;
• explore the tensions and complexities involved in legal constructions of childhood, eg. between rights and obligations, autonomy and protection, capacity and development, welfare and autonomy;
• provide the opportunity for students to critically explore tensions and complexities reflected in statute and case law;
• provide the opportunity for students to critically reflect on the different constructions of children present in law and the way in which law both reflects and influences wider social, cultural and political constructs of the child.

Learning and Teaching Information:

The module will be taught in workshops that utilise a range of pedagogies. This will include case studies, discussion groups, project work and presentations by guest speakers.

Workshops
Contact hours: 40

Guided independant study
Hours: 160

Further details relating to assessment
The mapping exercise and post will take areas of practice in key spheres of working with children - family support, education, criminal justice, and maps out the extent to which the international convention on children's rights is promoted or not.

Students will be expect to conduct a case study or an area of practice which explores the legal and rights based frameworks which apply to a particular form of practice, e.g. child protection, and critically explore the extent to which the practice does/does not ensure the rights of children. The portfolio should include an outline of the key legal frameworks governing the practice, international comparisons, key rights against which the practice should be judged, critical assessment of the extent to which the practice meets the rights of children and recommendations for future development.

Assessment: