Social Justice for Children and Young People International Perspectives

According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the goal of a social justice approach for children is to ensure that children “are better served and protected by justice systems, including the security and social welfare sectors.” Despite this worthy goal, the UN documents how children are rarely viewed as stakeholders in justice rules of law; child justice issues are often dealt with separate from larger justice and security issues; and when justice issues for children are addressed, it is often through a siloed, rather than a comprehensive approach. This volume actively challenges the current youth social justice paradigm through terminology and new approaches that place children and young people front and center in the social justice conversation. Through international consideration, children and young people worldwide are incorporated into the social justice conversation.

Foreword; 1. An urgent call to understand the status of children and young people within a social justice paradigm; 2. The language of social justice for children and young people: Key terms and guiding principles; 3. Social determinants of health: Children and consequences of socially unjust policies; 4. Health and mental health disparities: Application of the health capability paradigm for children and young people; 5. Children and poverty: A global approach; 6. Educational access for women and girls as a social justice issue: Ghana as a case study; 7. The youngest victims: Children and young people affected by war; 8. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth and social justice; 9. Social justice for child immigrants; 10. Social justice for children and young people with disabilities; 11. Critical school mental health praxis (CRSMHP): A framework for change; 12. Family-school partnerships within tiered systems of support to increase access, improve equity, and promote positive outcomes for all children and families; 13. Social justice and school discipline: School-wide positive interventions and supports (SWPBIS); 14. Understanding body respect as a social justice issue for young people; 15. Australia; 16. The need for bridging the gap between academy and public services in Brazil: Two case reports; 17. The education of migrant children in China's cities; 18. Inequalities in healthcare for children and adolescents in Colombia; 19. Learning for psychology via the Cuban program of care for people affected by the Chernobyl accident: 1990-2011; 20. Learning from the perspectives of at-risk resilient Ethiopian students: How school-based resilience arises from connectedness, competence, & contribution; 21. Social justice for children and young people: India country qualitative case study; 22. Israel: Features of injustice in the context of educational opportunities; 23. Social justice for children and young people in Mexico; 24. Social justice for children and young people in Norway; 25. Impact of decades of political violence on Palestinian children in Gaza strip and west bank; 26. Social justice and children in Pakistan; 27. Social justice issues for children and young people in Peru and other Latin American countries; 28. Social justice and adolescent health: A case study of Rwanda; 29. Ending mental health stigma and discrimination: Young people creating a fairer Scotland; 30. Violence exposure among children and young people: Social justice for children and young people: International perspectives: A South African case study; 31. Youth participatory action research in urban public education: Minority youth addressing social justice in the United States; 32. Conclusion: Being a change agent for social justice for children and youth.

Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers is Associate Professor and Program/Clinical Coordinator for the Programs in School Counseling and Counseling Psychology in the Department of Educational Psychology at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Her research and writing focuses on cultural resilience, trauma, bilingualism, and work with children and their families within diverse community contexts. She has edited/co-edited/authored four books and numerous articles in this area. Dr. Clauss-Ehlers served as Chair of the APA Task Force on Re-envisioning the Multicultural Guidelines for the 21st Century, a group who wrote the Multicultural Guidelines: An Ecological Approach to Context, Identity, and Intersectionality (2017).
Dr. Aradhana Bela Sood is a senior professor of Child Mental Policy at Virginia Commonwealth University. She has spent 30 years providing tertiary care to children with serious emotional disturbance and in the past decade shifted her focus to prevention efforts particularly in under-resourced populations. Recognized for her contributions to public mental health work by state and national organizations, her prevention efforts span infancy, childhood and transition age youth. She has edited two books on mental health policy and prevention in children's mental health.
Mark D. Weist is a Professor in Clinical-Community and School Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of South Carolina. In his prior position at the University of Maryland, he founded the Center for School Mental Health, providing leadership to the advancement of school mental health (SMH) policies and programs. He has edited or developed 12 books and has published and presented widely on diverse topics in SMH. He is currently co-leading a regional conference and leading two randomized controlled trials focused on improving the effectiveness and impact of SMH.