Camille Miner L&S Social Sciences
Assessing the Rights of Children and Parents in U.S. Social Policy
The United States remains the only member state of the U.N. that has not signed the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The United States Constitution similarly does not include any mention of children or their specific rights in light of their age or vulnerability. Thus, the rights of children in the United States are left ambiguous and often determined by state policy. In recent years, many states have grappled with a range of issues that highlight the unresolved nature of children’s rights in the U.S. including gender affirming care, child marriage and monetary entitlements for foster care children.This study uses news articles as a data source to examine the nature and frequency of rights’ expansions and restrictions amongst children and parents. It investigates which states are more likely to support expansions to children’s rights and the topic areas that garner the most support. The study also investigates whether there are unique factors at the state level (e.g., voting patterns, racial demographics, region of the country) that predict a state’s tendency to expand or restrict children’s rights and weather these fluctuate with shifts in parental rights.
Message To Sponsor
I am deeply appreciative for your funding this summer for funding my research on children's rights. This topic is especially fascinating to me as U.S. state policy largely determines when and how children bear rights. My project will be one of the final steps after collecting data on this issue for over a year. Working under Dr. Jill Berrick, is such a privilege and I've gained invaluable insight into what future policies can best improve the freedom and well being of children and adolescence.