Main description:

This book presents new findings that deal with different facets of the well-being of children and their relevance to the proper treatment of children. The well-being of children is considered against the background of a wide variety of legal, political, medical, educational and familial perspectives. The book addresses diverse issues from a range of disciplinary perspectives using a variety of methods. It has three major sections with the essays in each section loosely organized about a common general theme. The first section focuses on issues concerning the relation between children's well-being and autonomy or agency. The second section deals with child well-being insofar as the limits of parental authority are concerned. The third section has a more applied orientation and addresses a variety of public policy controversies involving the interpretation of children's well-being.

Contents:

Introduction - Alexander Bagattini and Colin Macleod.- Section I: Well-Being and Autonomy.- 1 Children, Adults, Autonomy and Well-Being - David Archard.- 2 Autonomy and Children's Well-Being - Paul Bou-Habib and Serena Olsaretti.- 3 The Intrinsic Goods of Childhood and the Just Society - Anca Gheaus.- 4 Agency, Authority and the Vulnerability of Children -Colin Macleod.- 5 Enhancing the Capacity for Autonomy: What Parents Owe Their Children to Make Their Lives Go Well - Monika Betzler.- 6 Utilitarianism, Welfare, Children - Anthony Skelton.- Section II: Well-Being and Authority.- 7 Paternalism in Education and the Future - Dieter Birnbacher.- 8 Anti-Perfectionist Childrearing - Matthew Clayton.- 9 Respecting Children and Children's Dignity - Holger Baumann and Barbara Bleisch.- 10 Who Decides? - James G. Dwyer.- Section III: Well-Being and Policy.- 11 The Concept of Best Interests in Clinical Practice - Jurg C. Streuli.- 12 Child Well-Being and the Family-Dilemma - Alexander Bagattini.- 13 Child Welfare and Child Protection: Medicalization and Scandalization as the New Norms in Dealing with Violence against Children - Heiner Fangerau, Arno Goergen, Maria Griemmert.- 14 Children's Rights, Well-Being, and Sexual Agency - Samantha Brennan and Jennifer Epp.- 15 The Grounds and Limits of Parents' Cultural Prerogatives: The Case of Circumcision- Jurgen De Wispelaere and Daniel Weinstock