A1 Journal article (refereed)
From surrender stories to persistence stories : young girls’ narratives of agency and power in child–parent conflicts (2023)

Lahtinen, M., Sevón, E., & Böök, M. L. (2023). From surrender stories to persistence stories : young girls’ narratives of agency and power in child–parent conflicts. International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies, 14(4), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs144202421717

JYU authors or editors

Lahtinen, Maria
Sevon, Eija
Böök, Marja

Publication details

All authors or editors: Lahtinen, Maria; Sevón, Eija; Böök, Marja Leena

Journal or series: International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies

eISSN: 1920-7298

Publication year: 2023

Publication date: 03/01/2024

Volume: 14

Issue number: 4

Pages range: 1-25

Publisher: School of Child and Youth Care, University of Victoria

Publication country: Canada

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs144202421717

Persistent website address: https://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/ijcyfs/article/view/21717

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/92799

Abstract

This paper examines the dynamics of agency and power as revealed in young girls’ fictional narratives about child–parent conflicts that are caused by incompatibility between the goals of children and parents in everyday family life. The data were collected from 26 girls aged 4 to 6 using the Story Magician’s Play Time method. Narrative analysis yielded five types: mediation and compromise stories, surrender stories, persistence stories, solidarity stories, and standoff stories. In the girls’ stories, agency and power were multifaceted and variable phenomena that were negotiated in a relational context in which the gender of the child and parent characters played an important role. Power relations tended to be narrated as more hierarchical and immutable in child–father conflicts, and more often as negotiated in child–mother conflicts. However, when narrated as deploying unyielding and tactical actions, the child characters were only able to exert power over the parent in girl–mother conflicts. Thus, some stories conveyed a clear, hierarchical generational order while others demonstrated children’s agentic power to reshape adult dominance in child–adult conflicts in diverse ways. The practical implications of the findings are also discussed.

Keywords: parent-child relationship; power (societal objects); preschool children (age group); girls; human agency; narrative analysis

Free keywords: child–parent conflict; generagency; narrative; power; young girl

Fields of science: