I conduct qualitative research at the intersection between different fields of research such as child and childhood studies, family studies and economic sociology. In my research, I mainly work with ethnographic methods such as participant observations and qualitative interview methods. Among other things, I am interested in methodological issues concrning children's voices, participation and perspectives. My research interests are also interwoven by the theoretical interest in issues concerning children and agency, parenthood, and family life.
Current research
I am at the moment involved in two research projects relating to school, Sustainable encounters in large preschool playgrounds, and The teacher rebellion group on Facebook. Among other things and as a part of one of the projects I focus on the toddlers and their activities at the playgrounds. I explore how children’s activities and movements are both invited and excluded by the playgrounds as places (for children), and how children and place mutually shape each other.
Previous research projects
Family adoption return trips
My dissertation explores adoption return trips conducted by families with young children. The study focused on questions relating to how children and their parents reason about the decision to conduct an adoption return trip, the planning of the trip’s content and their experiences of the trip. The study shows that both children and parents are involved in planning and implementing the adoption return trips. Adoption return trips are created in interactions between children and their parents, involving recommendations for adoption return trips, hopes, conditions, opportunities, risks and, not least, individual fears. In addition, the study shows that family adoption return trips are the result of dynamic family processes that create and actualise values and ideas about family life, parenthood, children, holidays and money – and that children are part of how such values and ideals are created.
Foster care
I have also been working on projects related to foster care in the Swedish context. Together with a colleague, I carried out an evaluation of a joint foster care organisation in 2021.