兒童及少年參與困境之初探

Participation Experience and Barriers to Participation Among Children and Young People

為了探究兒少參與樣貌，本文試圖瞭解兒少參與經驗、影響參與的因素、參與時面臨的阻礙以及促進參與的策略。焦點團體訪談法為本研究資料蒐集方法，不僅蒐集成人（專家）的意見，亦從兒少觀點瞭解其參與樣貌。研究結果顯示，兒少參與的形式相當豐富且多樣化，但深入探究卻發現與聯合國《兒童權利公約》規範的實質參與有落差，包含缺乏充分表達意見的機會、自主性低落以及參與不均等。基於兒少和專家的意見，充權、充分對話以及社會融入的策略係促進兒少參與的核心途徑。最後，本文根據研究結果提出幾項促進兒少參與的政策建議：1.從漸進式參與著手、2.及早培育兒少的公民素養、3.提高弱勢及身心障礙兒少的參與、4.發展與評估參與的指標。

To explore child and youth participation, qualitative research methods were used to analyze their experience of participation, aims of participation, barriers to participation, and factors facilitating participation. Three focus groups were organized, which comprised 24 children and youth (2 focus groups) and 9 workers from 8 nonprofit organizations (1 focus group). Thus, in addition to obtaining the opinions of adults, those of children and youths were considered. The results suggest that children and youth still experience some barriers to participation despite exhibiting broad and great participation. They have few opportunities to fully express their opinions, low autonomy, and inequality in participation. The participant opinions revealed that three critical approaches—empowerment, dialogue, and social inclusion strategies—are useful for promoting participation. Finally, the following may serve as policy recommendations related to promoting participation: (a) progressive participation is required, (b) the development of civic literacy among children should begin early, (c) government and social welfare agencies should facilitate the participation of children and youth with disabilities and those from low-income families, and (d) the development and assessment of participation indicators are required.