Abstract
Our search for suitable theoretical approaches to define and judge childhood well-being led us to the need discourse. Until now, little attention has been paid to what an orientation towards the needs of children might contribute to research on their well-being. This chapter looks at relevant need theory approaches in order to plot their potential for a research that is oriented towards children, related to children and pays attention to their subjective abilities and social framing conditions. The first part discusses approaches in need research that apply to all age groups. The second addresses children’s needs in order to clarify which specific demands they place on the family, the state and society. The final summary illustrates what the different need approaches have in common, and how they can provide a pragmatic basis for analysing the situation of children and adolescents in various contexts.
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Notes
- 1.
Maslow declared the deficiency needs to be physiological, safety, love, belongingness, respect (differentiated into self-respect and respect for others) and esteem. His growth needs, which he also called needs of being, included self-actualization that, nonetheless, cannot be satisfied completely (see the summary in Boeree, 2006).
- 2.
To give a simple example, the opportunity to be suitably nourished is given when enough food is available that an individual can also tolerate and is capable of eating—a steak would probably not meet this criterion for a person with no teeth. Therefore, in this case, the provision of a real freedom to nourish oneself appropriately would involve not only the availability of food but also appropriate dental care and the provision of false teeth. It also has to be considered whether the consumption of the available food violates cultural norms or values—it may be decisive here whether the piece of meat is beef, pork or lamb. When related to the lifeworld of children in Germany, the philosophy of the Capabilities Approach has to be examined in terms of extracurricular provisions in sports clubs and the like. However, the mere implementation of services does not suffice. Any examination of the actual possibilities that single children have to take advantage of these provisions has to take account of their mobility, their other obligations, whether their parents can pay club fees and so forth. However, at the end of the day, whether children actually do take up an offer by a club is less decisive. In light of their right to self-determination and participation, this is a decision that they must be left to make by themselves.
- 3.
In German-speaking countries, the educational scientist Annegret Werner (2006) has also compiled a list of purely child-specific needs. Her list covers the need for subsistence, social attachment and bonds, and growth. The selection is based on developmental psychology and has taken its place within the debate on child protection (in the handbook Kindeswohlgefährdung nach §1666 BGB und Allgemeiner Sozialer Dienst [ASD]).
- 4.
At this point, it becomes clear that the two authors’ recommendations are based on a limited critical and reflective attitude towards their own cultural background and the hegemonic strivings of the (male) educated middle class. The emphatic recommendation for or against specific means of satisfaction (e.g. mothers or parents as preferred reference persons, the implicit criticism of technology at certain points, etc.)—which promise behavioural certainty and initially present themselves as a welcome starting point for political and practical reforms—conceal the fact that preferences for specific means of satisfaction vary both historically and culturally. Likewise, the authors contradict their own beliefs—that the needs of every child differ individually—by formulating generalized but very concrete recommendations.
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Andresen, S., Albus, S. (2011). Children and Their Needs. In: Andresen, S., Diehm, I., Sander, U., Ziegler, H. (eds) Children and the Good Life. Children¿s Well-Being: Indicators and Research, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9219-9_5
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