My final summative paper for the course Youth, Crime and Justice, completed while studying abroad at the University of Birmingham, serves as an artifact demonstrating my understanding of how social workers advance human rights and challenge systemic injustice. One of my goals during my semester abroad was to critically compare social systems, services, and welfare policies in the United Kingdom and the United States. Through this paper, I examined whether children’s participatory rights can genuinely be realized within the UK youth justice system, drawing on Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which affirms that young people have the right to express their views in decisions that affect them . Analyzing this system from a comparative perspective allowed me to critically evaluate how power, privilege, and structural inequalities shape young people’s access to justice. In particular, I explored how racial bias, punitive policy frameworks, and institutional power dynamics can limit meaningful participation for marginalized youth.

Completing this work abroad deepened my understanding of human rights from an intersectional and global perspective. Studying youth justice in the UK encouraged me to reflect on how different political, cultural, and policy contexts influence the protection of children’s rights and the distribution of resources within social systems. This experience strengthened my ability to critically evaluate systems of oppression and consider how social workers can advocate for change at multiple levels, including policy, community, and organizational practice. Through this course and research project, I further developed my commitment to advancing human rights and promoting social, racial, and economic justice by advocating for systems that center the dignity, agency, and voices of marginalized populations.