Reflections on the enactment of children's participation rights through research: Between transactional and relational spaces

Young people's participation in the evaluation of services designed for them has become widespread in England following the United Kingdom's ratification of the UNCRC. This makes participation a matter of citizenship as well as of research. The paper reflects on these developments from a critical social psychological perspective. In particular it looks at the experience of working with a transformational model of participation. The author reflects on the possibilities and limitations of such a model and argues that within the English socio-cultural context a number of challenges, conceptualised by the author as transactional practices, make the establishment of enduring relational practices difficult. Epistemological reflexivity and a pragmatic approach towards children's participation rights are advocated by the author as a way of managing the conflicts between different participatory approaches that present themselves in practice.

Research Highlights► The article critical reflects on children’s participation rights in research. ► A relational approach to participation was taken by the author. ► The approach is analysed for its possibilities and limitations. ► The analysis suggests that the implementation context is important. ► Pragmatism is advocated for reconciling the tensions between context and approach.