Doing Research on Identity-Based Bullying With (Very) Young Children: The Need for An Empirical Children’s Rights Perspective

• In Event: School Violence and Bullying: Research, Policies, and Ethical Concerns

Abstract

When conducting academic research, scholars tend to focus on the analysis of data that have been collected and on the valorization of the results. A description of the research process is often only mentioned in passing and to the extent that allows other scholars to understand broadly the research processes (and decisions) that led to the research outcomes, usually presented in international journals under the constraint of strict word counts. Much more rare, however, are academic contributions that treat the research process itself as the subject of investigation. In this contribution, we shed light on our experiences conducting research on identity-based bullying in pre-and primary school. The project’s uniqueness lies in the fact that contrary to mainstream research on bullying, it included children from the age of 4 to 12, an age group that research often refrains to include due to the multi-layered ethics and challenges involved. We used a wide range of quantitative and qualitative methods adapted to the target group's appropriateness by embedding a children’s rights perspective. To include children more actively in our research endeavor, we sought to understand how the children involved experienced our research, their unique views on the subject, and their recommendations for our next research steps in the project. In what follows, we discuss the multifaced challenges on an ethical and methodological level and discuss the need for an empirical children’s rights perspective when doing research with (very) young children. We specifically focus on the implications of art. 12 of UN CRC and the child’s right to participate (also in scientific research).

Authors

• Marijke Van Buggenhout, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

• Els Dumortier, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

• Eva Dierickx, Artesis Plantijn Hogeschool Antwerpen