Les droits des enfants en milieu hospitalier Un équilibre délicat entre protection et participation aux décisions

The subject of the right to health for children and adolescents could be approached from different perspectives, either disciplinary (psychological, sociological, legal, pediatric, etc.), or in consideration of the contexts in which the health problems of children manifest themselves. This contribution focuses its attention on the condition of children and young people in hospital, to underline some questions which concern the therapeutic choices which concern minors. To explore the topic, we use the perspective of sociology of childhood and the legal perspective. In particular, we present some questions on promotion of the rights to health and care of children and teen and their participation in therapeutic relationships. In addition, we focus on the category of agency, and we analyze the listening to children as a moment in which children and adolescents participation can come real, above all in the context of the hospital. The Italian legal field, finally, is chosen as a paradigmatic example of “paternalism” way that can still be present in legal culture on minor.