The empirical data come from individual interviews with children and young people (ages 8–20 years) who had experienced domestic violence and lived at refuges for abused women. The thematic analysis shows that the children describe a wide range of strategies before, during and after a violent episode, that all children act regardless of age and that strategies vary according not only to age but also to situation and context. The theoretical framework used is the sociology of childhood, and the analysis engages with theoretical concepts of age, agency and positioning.
Topic:
Violence and abuse
‘Do you want to do some arm wrestling?’: Children strategies when experiencing domestic violence and the meaning of age
Øverlien, C. (2017). 'Do you want to do some arm wrestling?': Children strategies when experiencing domestic violence and the meaning of age. Child & Family Social Work, 22(2), 680-688. doi:10.1111/cfs.12283
The aim of this study is, by analysing children's and young people's discourses, to investigate their strategies in response to domestic violence episodes, in relation to their age.
The Project
This publication is a result of Shelters: Children in shelters, Children’s strategies – children’s resistance. Accounts of experiencing a father’s violence against a mother