Board Games as Interview Tools: Creating a Safe Space for Unaccompanied Refugee Children

Annamária Neag

doi:10.17645/mac.v7i2.1817

Abstract

Since the emergence of the new sociology of childhood in the late 1980s, there has been an increasing expectation to engage children actively and to take their views seriously throughout the research process. This is even more important when it comes to unaccompanied refugee children, whose voice is seldom heard. In this article the author builds upon her project of exploring unaccompanied refugee children’s lived media experiences and argues that—in order to have meaningful results and to create safe spaces for those who need it most—we need to search beyond traditional research tools. Specifically, she proposes to bring into research the concept of “play”. The article presents the use of bespoke, artisanal board games in cross-national interview settings with unaccompanied refugee children. It is argued that these creative tools can help in collecting diverse and rich data that can successfully complement traditional research methods

Highlights

The latest UNICEF State of the World’s Children report contains a statement that today is perhaps more important than ever: “Children use digital technology for specific reasons and it is important to take their opinions and explanations seriously” (2017, p. 119)
The research relied on a mix of qualitative methods that involved an online media diary, participant observation, interviews and digital ethnography
I was interested in whether these previous findings can be replicated in the case of unaccompanied refugee children

Summary

Introduction

The latest UNICEF State of the World’s Children report contains a statement that today is perhaps more important than ever: “Children use digital technology for specific reasons and it is important to take their opinions and explanations seriously” (2017, p. 119). While some of the issues, such as creating safe spaces where children feel comfortable (MacNaughton & Smith, 2015), are crucial and obvious, others, like the increasing surveillance of children in research (James & Prout, 1997) can hinder projects These difficulties are further compounded, if one is interested in the perspectives of unaccompanied refugee children, as I was, through a project that investigated the digital and social media use of these children, after their arrival to Europe. The research relied on a mix of qualitative methods that involved an online media diary, participant observation, interviews and digital ethnography This methodology is in line with what Yalaz and Zapata-Barrero (2018) note as an increasing focus on employing qualitative methodology in the field of migration studies. The article ends by reflecting on the possibilities of altering our research approaches, in order to create a more equal relationship between researchers and participants

Researching Migration and Digital Media Use

The Messiness of the Research Process

Board Games as Creative Research Tools

Board Games for Unaccompanied Refugee Children

Reflection on Using Board Games as Research Tools

Concluding Thoughts