The Capability Approach as the Ethics of Social Work With Child Refugees

ABSTRACT This article examines the capability approach (CA) as an ethical framework for social work practice with minor refugees. Drawing on the foundational work of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, as well as its recent application to child welfare contexts, the article argues that conventional rights–based and deficit‐oriented approaches are insufficient to address the complex, multidimensional vulnerabilities that refugee children face in transit and in host societies. The CA, in conjunction with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), provides a normative foundation that shifts the analytical focus from formal entitlements to the actual freedoms and real opportunities available to children in precarious circumstances. Central to this argument is the concept of age‐appropriate participation: Refugee children must be understood not as passive recipients of protection but as agents whose evolving capacities demand structurally supported opportunities for meaningful self‐expression and codetermination. The article further explores the practical implications of this theoretical reorientation for professional social work, including capability‐sensitive assessment, participatory intervention design and the transformation of institutional structures that reproduce marginalization. It concludes by reflecting on the systemic obstacles that prevent capability‐oriented practice and identifies directions for further research and professional development.