ABSTRACT
It is only very recently that researchers have begun to look systematically at ‘Children’s Accounts and Accounts of Childhood’, drawing upon the views and feelings of children involved in family pathways (see Brannen and O’Brien, 1995, Section IV) and even then there is a major problem of adults interpreting the statements of children. In the context of social work, Williamson and Butler have argued that ‘What is of greatest concern is that children are sceptical that responses by adults will be appropriate in their terms; they have no faith in the capacity of adults to listen to and hear their side of the story’ (1995, p. 294). We also have very little material that seeks to emphasise the wide variation and diversity of childhood experiences on family pathways.
