Local Needs and Global Indicators : A Contextual Approach to Multidimensional Child Deprivation

Abstract

This article focuses on the socio-political construction of childhood in Iran after the 1979 revolution and its influence on multidimensional child deprivation. It presents evidence that suggests that the revolution, and the ideological and political forces that emerged in its aftermath, established a particular definition of childhood based on Islamic law among the country’s policy makers. This particular definition in turn led to some normative legal and institutional changes that shaped children’s legal rights in Iran with significant differences between girls and boys. Therefore, the study claims that one important initial step in defining dimensions of child deprivation in Iran is defining childhood in the given historical period. The article applies a framework that combines two approaches in order to define different dimensions of child deprivation in Iran: the Capability Approach and the Rights Based Approach. Accordingly, a list of child deprivation dimensions are introduced for the Iranian context.