CHAPTER 2 STUDY PROCESS AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2. Methodology The methodology of the Study places an overall emphasis on the child rights-based approach. In this regard, the best interests principle (Art 3 CRC) serves as the guiding principle for the entire child rights-based analysis, reviewing both context and justification for deprivation of liberty (content) and decision-making processes in relation to such interference (procedure). The other guiding principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, namely non-discrimination (Art 1 CRC), the right to survival and development (Art 6 CRC) as well as the views of the child (Art 12 CRC) are mainstreamed in the analysis across the entire Global Study. Additionally, the Study particularly seeks to identify noncustodial solutions and their impact on reducing the number of children deprived of liberty. The Study has focused on six primary situations of deprivation of liberty that children consistently face around the world: • Children deprived of liberty in the administration of justice • Children living in prisons with their primary caregiver • Children deprived of liberty for migration-related reasons • Children deprived of liberty in institutions • Children deprived of liberty in the context of armed conflict • Children deprived of liberty on national security grounds 2.1 Core Research Questions In order to most usefully apply the child rights-based approach to the above identified focus areas, we have isolated a number of core questions in consultation with all experts and partners involved in the Global Study: • What is our current understanding? What is the worldwide scope of deprivation of liberty of children, and what are the conditions of children living in such situations? What are the pathways and root causes for children being deprived of their liberty, and what is the impact on their future development and society at large? These questions were designed with the intention to improve current understanding of the phenomenon, both in terms of the quantitative (statistical numbers, 24