Children’s Knowing Agency in the Private, Multi-Professional and Societal Settings – the Case of Parental Stalking (CAPS)

Children’s Knowing Agency in the Private, Multi-Professional and Societal Settings – the Case of Parental Stalking (CAPS)

Description

The project examines children’s knowing agency in the private, multi-professional, and societal settings following their parents’ divorce. Children’s knowing agency is approached from a multidisciplinary perspective, drawing on social work, law, and education.

The project collects data through interviews with children and young people, group meetings with children, and a survey of young people regarding their experiences of receiving help in situations of stalking after parental divorce. In addition, the project collects legal material on legal processes related to stalking.

The results can be used to identify stalking and children’s need for help, as well as to promote the rights of children and young people. In addition, the results of the project can be used in the training of social workers, teachers, and lawyers.

Aims of the project

  • To create new, multidisciplinary research on children as victims of violence and as active subjects in the dialogue between social work, law, and education.
  • To produce new empirical data on children’s and young people’s experiences of post-divorce stalking within a conceptual framework of power, knowledge, and agency.
  • To analyze the societal position of children and young people in terms of knowledge, agency, and rights.
  • To develop research methods and research ethics that enable the participation and agency of children and young people in sensitive phenomena.

Conclusion of research project: Lecture series on children and ex-partner stalking

Ex-partner stalking as a form of domestic violence challenges families living with violence, the professionals who work with them, and societal structures and processes. Understanding of stalking as a form of violence has improved through research and public debate, but the position of children and young people in situations where one parent stalks the other is still poorly recognized.

In a project funded by the Research Council of Finland , we have studied children and young people as victims of stalking after their parents’ divorce. The research has helped to articulate stalking from the perspective of children and young people and to identify areas where, for one reason or another, there is still a lack of recognition and understanding of their experiences, knowledge, and agency.

At the end of the project, we invited leading researchers in the field of violence against children to reflect on the position and rights of children in complex situations of stalking. In their video presentations, Professor Maria Eriksson, Professor Nicky Stanley, Associate Professor Emma Katz, and Associate Professor Molly Dragiewicz each offer a different perspective on the phenomenon. The presentations were inspired by comics drawn by artist Alina Korotovskaya, which summarize the key findings of our research project. Based on the comics and their own research backgrounds, the speakers highlight important and meaningful perspectives on violence against children. The presentations are freely available for use in social, health, and education training, as well as in legal education.

Emma Katz – Coercive control and Parental Stalking

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Associate Professor Emma Katz opens the lecture by explaining the mechanisms of coercive control and stalking, with a particular focus on children’s experiences of stalking and coercive control. Understanding and recognizing children’s experiences and the negative consequences they entail is essential to ensuring that children receive the help they need.

Molly Dragiewicz – How Children Are Involved in Technology-Facilitated Coercive Control

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Associate Professor Molly Dragiewicz examines the role of technology as part of coercive control and post-separation stalking, illustrating how violence can continue through children’s smart devices even after their parents have separated.

Maria Eriksson – Children’s Agency in the Context of Intimate Partner Violence: Everyday life and recovery post-separation

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Professor Maria Eriksson examines children’s everyday lives and the development of their agency in the context of intimate partner violence. The presentation explores children’s coping, participation, and role in situations of violence and stalking following their parents’ separation and in the service system.

Nicky Stanley – Strenghtening the Professional Response to Children Living with Domestic Violence and Abuse and Stalking

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Professor Nicky Stanley examines the lack of professional intervention in cases of violence experienced by children. Stanley focuses in particular on the role of the police, teachers, and family doctors in recognizing children’s experiences and helping them.