ABSTRACT
The increasing concern in capturing individual children’s voices in research, as well as practice and policymaking, has become particularly evident since the early 1990s, with many countries ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). This reflects an empirically grounded awareness that children’s involvement in research is not only their right, but also that such participation values the original contribution that children can make to our understanding of how children experience their individual lives. In this chapter, we discuss some of the practical and fundamental issues and principles to consider when conducting qualitative interviews with children who have experienced violence and abuse, using our own experience as researchers as our starting point. We begin by sharing some reflection on how to conduct ethically sound interviews. Next, we point to vital practical preparations before the interviews can take place. We then discuss what it takes to become a skilled interviewer, and finally, we show how young children can be meaningful and important informants. We conclude by arguing that participating in research should not only be seen as a right, but also that participation can be experienced as empowering for children, as their lived experience can contribute to research and, ultimately, to improved practice and policy.
