“I Think, She Does Not Know This Any More”
Child Agency Negotiated Through the Dynamics of Family Interactions in Germany During Covid-19
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21830065 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Astrid Berner-Rodoreda (0000-0002-5484-890X, Heidelberg University), Nina Baum (0009-0007-0939-2142, Heidelberg University), Maria-Katharina Ganten, Maria‐Katharina Ganten (Heidelberg University), Henriette Hoegl (Berufsverband der Frauenärzte), Kathrin Zangerl (0009-0006-2601-4699, Heidelberg University), Till Bärnighausen (0000-0002-4182-4212) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 99-120 |
| Publication date | 2025-12-19 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Child Youth and Family Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1920-7298 • E-ISSN: 1920-7298 |
| Publisher | University of Victoria Libraries (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.18357/ijcyfs164202522590 |
| OpenAlex | W7116400704 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 40 |
We examined child agency in terms of prevailing theories of childhood (seeing children as “been”, “being”, or “becoming”) in the context of interviews about COVID-19 experiences. In our study we focused on conversations between the interlocutor (a child or a parent) and additional family members and used a discourse approach for analyzing and interpreting the interactions. In total, 9 families of diverse sociocultural backgrounds (13 parents and 16 children aged 6– 15 years) were interviewed about their individual COVID-19 experience in Germany. Irrespective of age, children were able to describe events and experiences during COVID-19 times and were thus aware of the “been”. These ranged from enjoying playtime with parents to playgrounds being cordoned off and classmates being ill. Interview interactions underscored a dynamic of children’s agency that alternated between active involvement in their own and the parent’s interview and reactively referring questions to a parent or letting the parent take control of the interview situation. Neither parents’ views of children nor children’s own behavior could be consistently assigned to the category of “being” or “becoming”. Rather, our study highlighted children’s agency along a being–becoming continuum through an interactive transformational process in terms of interdependent agency between children and parents in a particular context. This process of negotiated agency should be explored further in future studies with children and parents
Interdependence · Sense of agency · Sociocultural evolution · Structure and agency · Transformational leadership · Children's Rights and Participation · COVID-19 and Mental Health · Family Support in Illness
Reconceptualising Agency and Childhood
Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood
Conversation Analysis and Discourse Analysis
How to use and assess qualitative research methods
Discourse Analysis
The psychosocial aspects of children exposed to war
Parents' Stress and Children's Psychological Problems in Families Facing the Covid-19 Outbreak in Italy
Discourse analysis
Systematic debriefing after qualitative encounters
Glossary of transcript symbols with an introduction
Perceived Changes in Family Life During Covid ‐19
The Agency of Children
Interpersonal relationships and child development*1
The Child as Vulnerable Victim
Taking emic and etic to the family level
Becoming, Being and Having Been
Children as ‘Being and Becomings’
Researching children’s rights in education
Changes in family chaos and family relationships during the Covid-19 pandemic
Introduction to the special issue
Reconceptualising Children's Agency as Continuum and Interdependence
From "It Has Stopped Our Lives" to "Spending More Time Together Has Strengthened Bonds
Embracing the past
What do you want me to say?' On the Conversation Analysis approach to bilingual interaction
Connecting a sociology of childhood perspective with the study of child health, illness and wellbeing
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |