Abstract
Developmental science is both concerned with and has accumulated a wealth of evidence around factors that support and harm child development – many of which overlap substantially with the recently agreed upon global Sustainable Development Goals, placing developmental scientists in an apt position to contribute to the realization of these goals and targets.
We present community dialogues as a participatory research and program development strategy through which developmental scientists and local community partners can collaboratively surface, discuss, address, and evaluate child protection and well-being issues in their communities. We detail our experience with a case study from Shinyanga, Tanzania, in which community-based organizations worked with adults and children to collaboratively surface and discuss child protection issues in their communities. We sought to understand the key spaces in which children spend their daily lives, and the factors in each of these spaces that harm and support child safety, health, and well-being. Findings indicated that the home, school, and playground were among the most important spaces where children spend their time. Factors promoting children’s well-being fell mostly under social-economic factors (e.g., provision of basic needs) and appropriate social-emotional climates and relationships (e.g., where affection is expressed). Factors that compromised child well-being included abuse (sexual, physical, and verbal), family conflict, early marriages, and lack of basic resources. As we discuss the findings, we reflect on strengths, limitations, and implications for our case study in particular as well as for the community dialogues methodology more broadly.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abrahams, N., Mathews, S., & Ramela, P. (2006). Intersections of ‘sanitation, sexual coercion and girls’ safety in schools. Tropical Medicine & International Health, 11(5), 751–756.
Amsden, J., & Van Wynsberghe, R. (2005). Community mapping as a research tool with youth. Action Research, 3(4), 357–381.
Britto, P. R., Lye, S. J., Proulx, K., Yousafzai, A. K., Matthews, S. G., Vaivada, T., et al. (2017). Nurturing care: Promoting early childhood development. The Lancet, 389(10064), 91–102.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (2005). Making human beings human: Bioecological perspectives on human development. New York: Sage.
Campbell, C., Nhamo, M., Scott, K., Madanhire, C., Nyamukapa, C., Skovdal, M., & Gregson, S. (2013). The role of community conversations in facilitating local HIV competence: Case study from rural Zimbabwe. BMC Public Health, 13, 354. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-354.
Cohen, C. P. (1989). United nations: Convention on the rights of the child. International Legal Materials, 28(6), 1448–1476.
Daro, D., & Dodge, K. A. (2009). Creating community responsibility for child protection: Possibilities and challenges. The Future of Children/Center for the Future of children, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, 19(2), 67.
de Jager, A., Tewson, A., Ludlow, B., Boydell, K.M., & (2016). Embodied ways of storying the self: A systematic review of body-mapping. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 17(2), Art. 22.
ESRF. (2015). Tanzania Human Development Report 2014. From http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/thdr2014-main.pdf Accessed 05/02/2018
Fang, X., Fry, D. A., Brown, D. S., Mercy, J. A., Dunne, M. P., Butchart, A. R., et al. (2015). The burden of child maltreatment in the East Asia and Pacific region. Child Abuse & Neglect, 42, 146–162.
Grantham-McGregor, S., Cheung, Y. B., Cueto, S., Glewwe, P., Richter, L., Strupp, B., & Group, I. C. D. S. (2007). Developmental potential in the first 5 years for children in developing countries. The Lancet, 369, 60–70.
Kostelny, K., Wessells, M., Chabeda-Barthe, J., & Ondoro, K. (2013). Learning about children in urban slums: A rapid ethnographic study in two urban slums in Mombasa of community-based child protection mechanisms and their linkage with the Kenyan national child protection system. London Interagency Learning Initiative on Community-Based Child Protection Mechanisms and Child Protection Systems. .
Kostelny, K., Wessells, M., & Ondoro, K. (2014). Community based child protection mechanisms in Kilifi, Kenya: A rapid ethnographic study in two rural sites. London: Interagency Learning Initiative on Community-Based Child Protection Mechanisms and Child Protection Systems.
Laverack, G., & Labonte, R. (2000). A planning framework for community empowerment goals within health promotion. Health Policy and Planning, 15(3), 255–262.
Lentfer, J., & Yachkaschi, S. (2012). The glass is half full? Understanding organizational development within community-based organizations.
Løhre, A., Lydersen, S., & Vatten, L. J. (2010). School well-being among children in grades 1–10. BMC Public Health, 10(526).
Mbale, E. W., Taylor, T., Brabin, B., Mallewa, M., & Gladstone, M. (2017). Exploring neurodevelopmental outcome measures used in children with cerebral malaria: The perspectives of caregivers and health workers in Malawi. BMC Pediatrics, 17(1), 9.
Meinck, F., Cluver, L. D., Boyes, M. E., & Mhlongo, E. L. (2015). Risk and protective factors for physical and sexual abuse of children and adolescents in Africa: A review and implications for practice. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 16(1), 81–107.
Munthali, A. C., Mvula, P. M., & Silo, L. (2014). Early childhood development: The role of community based childcare centres in Malawi. SpringerPlus, 3(1), 305.
Pesambili, J. C. (2013). Consequences of female genital mutilation on girls’ schooling in Tarime, Tanzania: Voices of the uncircumcised girls on the experiences, problems and coping strategies. Journal of Education and Practice, 4(109), 113–114.
Phaswana-Mafuya, N., Hoosain, E., Davids, A., Chirinda, W., Swana, Z., Mlambo, G., … Rogers, S. (2012). Community dialogues as a method to discuss and reduce multiple concurrent partnerships in Lesotho: Executive summary.
Stark, L., Bancroft, C., Cholid, S., Sustikarini, A., & Meliala, A. (2012). A qualitative study of community-based child protection mechanisms in Aceh, Indonesia. Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies, 7(3), 228–236.
Stark, L., MacFarlane, M., King, D., Lamin, D., Lilley, S., & Wessells, M. (2014). A community – Driven approach to reducing teenage pregnancy in Sierra Leone. Midline Evaluation Brief May 2014.
Save the Children. (2009). ARC resource pack (Actions for the rights of the children) English version. Module 4 from https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/sites/default/files/documents/arc-modf4-7-e5-2009.pdf. Accessed 2 May 2018.
Subbarao, K., & Coury, D. (2004). Reaching out to Africa’s orphans: A framework for public action. World Bank Publications.
Tanzania Media Women’s Association. (2017). Fact sheet: Child marriage. From http://tamwa.org/tamwa/images/pdf/Sauti%20ya%20Siti%20No.38%20Fact%20Sheet%20Eng.pdf. Accessed 2 May 2018.
Terway, A., Dooley, B., & Smiley, A. (2012). Most vulnerable children in Tanzania: Access to education and patterns of non-attendance. From https://www.fhi360.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/Tanzania_Vulnerability.pdf. Accessed 2 May 2018.
UNICEF. (2008). Children and AIDS: Third stocktaking report, 2008-summary: UNICEF. https://www.unicef.org/publications/index_46585.html. Accessed 2 May 2018.
UNICEF. (2011). Violence against children in Tanzania: Findings from a national survey 2009. Dar es Salaam: UNICEF Tanzania, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention & Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences. https://www.unicef.org/media/files/violence_against_children_in_tanzania_report.pdf. Accessed 2 May 2018.
United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld. Accessed 2 May 2018.
Wessells, M. G. (2015). Bottom-up approaches to strengthening child protection systems: Placing children, families, and communities at the center. Child Abuse & Neglect, 43, 8–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.04.006.
WHO. (2001). International classification of functioning, disability and health. Geneva: World Health Organization.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Abubakar, A., Shallwani, S., Wanjala, S.W., Mwangala, P.N., Nyongesa, M.K. (2018). Community Dialogues as a Strategy for Identifying and Addressing Child Protection Needs in Shinyanga, Tanzania. In: Verma, S., Petersen, A. (eds) Developmental Science and Sustainable Development Goals for Children and Youth. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 74. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96592-5_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96592-5_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-96591-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-96592-5
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)