Introduction

To whom does the child care practitioner have responsibilities? Working with children and young people brings with it ethical responsibilities which may be different from those involved in work with adults. One answer to this question emphasizes the importance of listening to what children have to say. To a certain extent this child-centred approach can be said to reflect medicine's more general concern (particularly in northern Europe and the USA) with patient-centred care. It is commonly felt that practitioners ought to weigh up the value of a medical intervention solely in terms of the benefits and risks it is likely to have for the patient in front of them, in relation to that person's autonomy, and quite apart from the wishes of others such as the patient's family.