An Ethical Journey: Rights, Relationships and Reflexivity

Sociological Research Online, 2008

Early child development and care, 2005

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was a crucial moment that changed children’s status in both society and in research. Nevertheless, if on the one hand children’s competence has been recurrently challenged by the dominant discourse of developmental psychology; on the other hand children have demonstrated themselves to be very helpful in helping researchers to understand the complexities enclosed in their contemporary life experiences.The recognition of children as social actors, followed by the upsurge in empirical interest in childhood, raises new ethical discussions, dilemmas and responsibilities for researchers that need further discussion and reflection.In accordance with this, this text gives an overview of key ethic decisions that were carefully considered along a qualitative study: access to children; protecting children’s privacy and confidentiality, managing power in adult-child relationship, building trust, entering children’s space

Children's Geographies

Qualitative Inquiry, 2013

… EL Kronqvist & P. …, 2010

Global Studies of Childhood, 2020

This essay aims to explore some of the main ethical issues that arise in research involving children. After introducing basic concepts and definitions, the essay evolves around the importance of distinguishing between the needs and rights of children and adults as well as recognizing the fact that children should not be dealt as objects of protection but as subjects of rights, as active social actors. This constitutes one of the first and foremost ethical challenges in research involving children. In addition, the essay investigates the fundamentals of ethics, how ethics can be promoted and justified in research involving children while embarking on a more detailed account of ethical issues before, during and after research such as informed consent, power relations, and confidentiality. The last part suggests and recommends a new methodological approach to research involving children based on the scientific shift from research on children to research with or by children. To conclude, the essay insists on reflecting on the importance for children to remain at the centre of consideration and re-conceptualize children within the social sciences as active agents rather than as the objects of research

Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 2001