dren and young people should be guided by actions that promote their ‘best interests’ (Article 3). The rights-based approach frames current policy and practice by acknowledging children’s strengths and resilience as well as recognising their vulnerabilities. Lansdown observed that (2005 p.4) “the vulnerability of children derives, in some part, not from their lack of capacity, but rather, from their lack of power and status with which to exercise their rights and challenge”. In the debate about children’s needs, Woodhead indicated that (2006, p.28) that “The shift in the young child’s status within policy and practice is also signalled by the move away from policies based mainly around adult constructions of children’s needs.”
Developmental psychology has tended to view children as passive recipients of care rather than active participants. Piaget’s (1958) viewed cognitive development in four stages and was critiqued by Vygotsky who believed Piaget overlooked the importance of cultural and social interactions. In recent years, there has been a shift in the thinking about a child’s early relationships. Bronfenbrenner (1993) has helped us to understand the importance of fostering relationships with children and families. He explained that a child’s life is rooted in multiple and interrelating contexts and shaped by systems and cultural institutions he or she interacts with, for example, family, friends, neighbours, school and wider structures such as local services. However, some frontline practitioners might say that constructions of family are much more complex than depicted and that the systems around children are not always straightforward. Neuroscience also confirms that the developing brain is influenced by the interactions with the environment and evidence suggests that early positive experiences with caregivers can help build resilience to lessen the negative effects of dy