From being ignored to engaging in dialogue: Young boys' narratives of children's participation in child-parent conflicts

This paper examines children's opportunities to participate in everyday child-parent conflicts as revealed in young boys' fictional narratives. The data were collected from 19 boys aged 3-6 years using the Story Magician's Play Time method. Narrative analysis yielded four story types: ignored participation stories, parent-directed participation stories, child-directed participation stories and dialogical participation stories. The study illustrates that when considering children's participation in child-parent conflicts, differences between children in their opportunities to participate in resolving conflicts should be taken into account. The boys' stories draw attention to the importance of children's right to a voice and influence in child-parent conflicts.