Implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: A Standard of Living Adequate for Development

The human right to survive and develop, a fundamental premise of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, can be attained only if adequate living conditions are secured for the child. This book reviews the significance of the physical, mental, spiritual, moral, and social aspects of holistic child development called for by Article 27 of the Convention. The editors share a vision of childhood wherein the child is accorded dignity, and opportunities exist to promote advancement of human potential. Contributors from several nations and a variety of disciplines, including psychology, law, social work, medicine, economics, and international studies, address the challenge of identifying adequate living conditions across cultures and discuss issues affecting communities and governments as they attempt to fulfill their responsibilities to children and their families. Key themes throughout the book are the significance of the child's perspective, the primacy of the family environment, the need to balance the interests of diverse cultures while reducing historical inequities, and the ecological interdependence of children, families, communities, and nations. The editors and contributors call for organized social and political action to realize the child's right to develop, including ways to measure and monitor children's well-being beyond survival.

Table of Contents:
The Child's Right to a Standard of Living Adequate for Development Foreword by Gary B. Melton Preface Foundation Securing Adequate Living Conditions for Each Child's Development by Arlene Bowers Andrews Drafting and Interpreting Article 27 by Natalie Hevener Kaufman and Maria Blanco The International Effort to Measure and Monitor the State of Children by Asher Ben-Arieh The Meaning of Child's Standard of Living by Jens Qvortrup The Relationship Between Standard of Living and Specific Developmental Domains The Relationship Between Standard of Living and Physical Development by Francis Rushton and Robert Greenberg An Adequate Standard of Living for Children's Cognitive (Mental) Development by Patricia Y. Hashima and Susan P. Limber The Meaning of a Standard of Living Adequate for Moral and Civic Development by Judith Torney-Purta The Social Development of the Child by Malfrid Grude Flekkoy and Natalie Hevener Kaufman Community Context Significance of Community Wealth for Child Development: Assumptions and Issues by Frank Barry Community Obligations and the Categorization of Children by Leroy Pelton The Application of Human Capital Theory to Article 27 by Allen M. Parkman Implementing Article 27 in Various Contexts A Cross-Cultural Examination of Article 27 of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child by Virginia Murphy-Berman Entitlement to "Adequacy": Application of Article 27 to U.S. Law by Robin Kimbrough The Application of Article 27 in the Czech Republic: Implications for Countries in Transition by Juri Kovarik Twenty-Six Steps to Article 27: The Example of African American Children in South Carolina by Barbara Morrison-Rodriguez Confronting the Implementation Challenge by Arlene Bowers Andrews and Natalie Hevener Kaufman Appendix Index