Narrative Approaches as a Supplementary Source of Knowledge on Marginalized Groups

Reidun Follesø; Jorid Krane  Hanssen

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.6.2.06

Authors

Reidun Follesø Bodø University College, Norway
Jorid Krane Hanssen Bodø University College, Norway

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.6.2.06

Keywords:

Narrative approaches, Autobiographies, Youth in care, Youth in gay and lesbian families

Abstract

This article reflects upon two different research projects that involve narratives from youth in care and youth growing up in families with gay and lesbian parents. We argue that these narrative approaches may offer a supplementary source of knowledge on marginalized groups that often seem hard to reach. The first method involves the participant and researcher collaborating to convert an oral narrative into a written one. In the second, the participants write an autobiographical narrative by themselves, covering themes specified by a researcher. The article is structured so that we first look at the processes of co-creating narratives and collecting autobiographical testimonies. We then introduce the two different methodological approaches by referring to empirical examples. Finally we reflect on the methodological and ethical challenges that occurred during this research.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Reidun Follesø, Bodø University College, Norway

Reidun Follesø is Associate Professor of Social Work at Bodø University College, Norway. She received her PhD from Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Her general areas of specialization are youth research, child protection and participation. The current focus of her research is youth at risk.

Jorid Krane Hanssen, Bodø University College, Norway

Jorid Krane Hanssen is an Assistant Professor and a Doctoral Candidate in Sociology at Bodø University College, Norway. She teaches both students of residental care and social work, as well as students of Sociology. Her research focuses are especially on issues related to families and family diversity, with a particular focus on samesex families and their children and adolescents.

References

Bauman, Richard (1987) Story, Performance and Event. Contextual Studies of Oral narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620935

Bruner, Jerome (1986) Actual minds, possible worlds. Harvard: Harvard University Press.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674029019

Denzin, Norman K. (2000) "Preface" Pp xi-xiii in Lines of Narrative: Psychosocial perspectives, edited by M. Andrews et al. New York: Routledge.
Google Scholar

Fog, Jette (1994) Med samtalen som udgangspunkt. Det kvalitative forskningsinterwiev. København: Akademisk Forlag.
Google Scholar

Follesø, Reidun (2006) Sammen om barnevern. Enestående fortellinger felles utfordringer. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
Google Scholar

Gilmore, Leigh (1994) "Policing Truth: Confession, Gender and Autobiographical Authority" in Autobiography & Postmodernism, edited by K.Ashley, L.Gilmore, G. Peters. Boston: The University of Massachusetts Press.
Google Scholar

Hanssen, Jorid K. (2007) "Homoseksuelle foreldre – (u)vanlige familier?" Dansk Sociologi nr.2/18.
Google Scholar

Hanssen Jorid K.(work in progress) Erfaringer fra å vokse opp med homoseksuelle foreldre (preliminary title). Work in progress, Faculty of Social Sciences. Bodø: University College.
Google Scholar

Haraway, Donna J. (1991) "Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective". Pp 183-201 in Simians, Cyborgs and Women. The Reinvention of Nature, edited by D.Haraway. London: Free Association Books.
Google Scholar

Hill, Malcolm, John Davis, Alan Prout and Kay Tisdall (2004) "Moving the Participation Agenda Forward." Children and Society 18:77–96.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/chi.819

Hine, Jean (2009) "Young people’s lives: Taking a different view" in Work with Young People edited by J.Wood & J. Hine. London: Sage.
Google Scholar

Hydén Lars Christer (2008) "Narratives in Illness: A Methodological Note". Qualitative Sociolgy Review IV (3).
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.4.3.04

Hydén, Lars Christer (1997) "De otalliga berättelserna" in: Att studera berettelser, edited by L.C.Hydén and M. Hydén. Stockholm: Liber.
Google Scholar

Kellett, Mary, Ruth Forrest, Naomi Dent and Ben Ward (2004) "‘Just Teach Us the Skills Please, We’ll’ Do the Rest: Empowering Ten-Year-Olds as Active Researchers", Children and Society 18 (5) pp. 329-343 http://oro.open.ac.uk/671/
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/chi.807

Laslett, Barbara (1999) "Personal Narrative as Sociology". Contemporary Sociology 28: 391-401.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2655287

Linell, Per (2005) The Written Language Bias in Linguistics. London: Routledge.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203342763

Lundberg, Ingvar (2005) Utsatta flickor och pojkar En översikt av aktuell svensk forskning Stockholm: Forskningsrådet för Arbetsliv och Socialvetenskap.
Google Scholar

Plummer, Ken (2005) Documents of life 2. London: Sage Publications.
Google Scholar

Polkinghorne, David (1988) Narrative knowing and the human sciences. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Google Scholar

Powell, Mary Ann and Anne B. Smith (2009) "Hildren's Participation Rights in Research". Childhood 16:124 http://www.sagepublications.com
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568208101694

Richardson, Laurel (2003) "Writing. A Method of Inquiry". in Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Material edited by N.K. Denzin & Y.Lincoln. London: Sage Publications.
Google Scholar

Riessmann, Catherine.K. (2008) Narrative Methods for the Human Sciences. London: Sage Publications.
Google Scholar