Drawing a River

Utilizing the Power of Metaphors in Interviews With Children and Young People

Bibliographic Data

ID4633799
AuthorsH Warming (0000-0003-2212-8876, Roskilde University, corresponding author), Signe Fjordside (0000-0002-5421-347X, Børns Vilkår (Children’s Welfare, a voluntary organisation), Valby, Denmark), Nanna L A Cortsen (Student Assistant, of Social Science and Business, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark), Freja A H Stanek (Student Assistant, of Social Science and Business, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark), Isabella Vagtholm (0009-0006-0459-774X, Student Assistant, of Social Science and Business, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark)
Year2023
Volume33
Issue12
Pages1104-1115
Publication date2023-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueQualitative Health Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1049-7323 • E-ISSN: 1552-7557
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/10497323231186892
PMID37571818
OpenAlexW4385778926
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited53

In the field of qualitative health research on children, scholars have called for the inclusion of children's perspectives. Still, health care research on children appears to be characterized by an exclusionary approach that stems from a conception of disability and sickness as equivalent to a lack of agency. This article responds to the call to include children's perspectives. It presents the Double-view (Dovi)-river interview, which is a drawing- and metaphor-based interview method that enables ambiguous and multi-layered life course narratives. Based on two steps - (1) a life course interview conducted while drawing a river of the child's life and (2) revisiting and unfolding the child's stories - the method allows for an arts-based, joint exploration of life experiences. Inspired by childhood studies as well as a poststructuralist epistemology, the article discusses and proposes ways to challenge power relations between the adult interviewer and the child interviewee. It is argued that the method can also challenge the predominant deficit view and the dichotomous understanding of children's experiences of their life and capabilities that characterize much health care practice and health research, by focusing both on challenges and opportunities. Doing so enables a more nuanced and appreciative approach to children. We draw on empirical examples from a study with children with disabilities. However, we suggest that the method's potential for enabling articulation of the complex and ambiguous can inspire qualitative research and health care practice more broadly

Developmental psychology · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Child Development and Digital Technology · Children's Rights and Participation · Early Childhood Education and Development · Psychology

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