This qualitative study explores the experiences of young people with professionals as they traverse the family court in Aotearoa-New Zealand. A hermeneutic phenomenological lens, based on the writings of Heidegger, Gadamer, van Manen and Buber, explored this phenomenon, which was embedded in the notion that young people need to have agency, the ability to act, to speak and to share their thoughts in matters that affect them. Six young people aged 8–16 years, four lawyers for the children, four specialist report writers (psychologists) and one parent were interviewed. Each interview was crafted into a story, which were then interpreted into “themes”, to allow the young person's experiences to be better understood and presented. This article focuses on one aspect of the young person's experiences as reported by them. The key insight was that the professional who engages in extra-ordinary listening about the young person's experience of what matters to them, can build a space of trust, the “between”, the gap between two people where mutual authenticity can exist, where discussion can occur, and where the professional can hear, respect and represent the young person's views at the decision-making phase of Court proceedings.

中文翻译：

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儿童/青少年在新西兰家庭法庭系统中的生活经历

这项定性研究探讨了新西兰年轻人与专业人士穿越家庭法庭时的经历。基于海德格尔、伽达默尔、范曼南和布伯著作的解释学现象学视角探讨了这一现象，这种现象植根于这样的观念：年轻人需要有代理权，有能力行动、说话和分享他们的想法。影响他们的事情。六名 8 至 16 岁的年轻人、四名儿童律师、四名专业报告撰写者（心理学家）和一名家长接受了采访。每次采访都被精心制作成一个故事，然后被解读为“主题”，以便更好地理解和呈现年轻人的经历。本文重点关注年轻人所报告的经历的一个方面。关键的见解是，专业人士能够以非凡的方式倾听年轻人对他们重要的事情的经历，可以建立一个信任的空间，即“之间”，两个人之间的差距，在这个空间里，可以存在相互的真实性，可以进行讨论。可以发生，并且专业人士可以在法庭诉讼的决策阶段听取、尊重和代表青少年的观点。