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A method from the ‘lifeworld’: some possibilities for person centred planning for children in care
Author(s) -
Houston Stan
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
children and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1099-0860
pISSN - 0951-0605
DOI - 10.1002/chi.728
Subject(s) - lifeworld , bureaucracy , narrative , meaning (existential) , sociology , democracy , rationality , epistemology , pedagogy , psychology , social science , psychotherapist , political science , linguistics , philosophy , politics , law
This paper describes a method for working with children who are the subjects of care planning and review under the Children Act 1989. The person centred planning method, as it is termed, has been well established in working with adults with special needs but can be extrapolated to encounters with children. It focuses on three fundamental areas: relationship, meaning and narrative. In underscoring these areas, the method restrains the bureaucracy and experience of stigma that is often present for those residing in state care. On a wider plane, the paper argues that the method stands as a veritable example of Habermas's ideas concerning the application of communicative rationality and discursive democracy in social life.