Sociological Studies of Children and Youth

Purpose – This chapter has three major points. First, I present the legal context that guides pediatric clinical interactions in the United States. Second, I argue that pediatric care is incomplete if the child patient is not identified as a knowledgeable and serious resource, thereby illustrating the concept called child inclusion. Third, it recognizes the child as a research participant.

Methodology – This chapter will present an argument for the concept of child inclusion by presenting limited data from research at a private clinic in the state of Florida, USA. It will present recommendations for the inclusion of children in the pediatric setting and comment on the child-centered method used for this research. The concept of child inclusion acknowledges the agency of a child in health care and places the child at the forefront of research. It presents qualitative data from ongoing research on indicators for child inclusion in a pediatric clinical setting, assuming that such indicators can only manifest in a partnership model of clinical interaction, where physician authority does not dominate clinical care and patients are actively involved in the negotiation of their health care.

Findings – I present recommendations for the inclusion of children in the pediatric setting and comment on the child-centered method used for this research. The concept of child inclusion acknowledges the agency of a child in health care and places the child at the forefront of research. This work calls for the child to no longer be in the background of pediatric care and social science research.