Why Listening to Children and Young People is Important in Family Justice

During the last thirty years there has been a growing body of evidence indicating that children and young people often feel marginalised when their parents are making critical decisions which will shape their young lives, and calling for family justice professionals to hear their voices. This article explores the research evidence, examines the relevant theories about child development, and demonstrates how a focus on age-related competency fails to take account of children’s subjective meanings about their lives. The authors consider a model of participation first designed to understand adult participation in government, and show how this can be usefully applied to understanding children’s participation in family justice.