This training session is aimed at students who want to understand the complexities of negotiating informed consent in research with children and young people. It takes the form of a conversation between Prof Priscilla Alderson and the ECY pathway director Michael Gallagher. Priscilla has spent decades researching and writing about children’s consent, including consent to medical treatment and participation in research. She is one of the leading experts in this challenging and contested area.
The session develops conversation, reflection and discussion around some of the key issues regarding consent for social researchers working with children, including:
- the history of consent and children’s rights
- notions of consent in medical versus social research
- debates around capacity, age and maturity
- power relations, agency and consent
- suggestions for good practice