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In many societal contexts, the importance of listening to children is underscored, not seldom with reference to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and especially Article 12 on the right to be heard. But what does it mean to listen to children? A plethora of books on listening to children aimed at professionals and others who meet children in their daily lives are published on a regular basis. However, we miss a critical discussion of listening as such, and more specifically about (good) listening to children, framed within a larger theoretical context. The aim of this article is to discuss listening in relation to monological and dialogical perspectives on communication, as well as in relation to different notions of children as similar to or different from adults. Also discussed is how different theoretical perspectives on listening and listening to children tends to lead to different ethical conclusions regarded what constitutes good listening and listening to children., This is an English translation of an article that was originally published in Swedish in 2022 as “Att lyssna på barn. Om lyssnandets teori och etik” in the Nordic journal Barn (volume 40, issue 3). The translation is published here with permission from the publisher. The original article in Swedish can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.23865/barn.v40.5075

This article draws on interviews with parents of children aged 7–12 years with so called neuropsychiatric disabilities (NPF) and demonstrates how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted on the leisure time of the children and their families. By focusing on the exceptional circumstances of this period, it also highlights and raises questions about the broader conditions related to leisure. The pandemic brings the challenges faced by these families into sharp focus and reveals an intriguing paradox: On the one hand, they are more dependent than others on maintaining support, while on the other hand, they are less reliant on publicly organized leisure activities. The study indicates that this is linked to how children with NPF and their needs are addressed under normal circumstances, where ableist norms impose limits on the activities of the children and their families. The results emphasize how this leads to children becoming reliant on parental presence, thereby reducing their ability to engage in society on their own terms. However, this situation can be mitigated through knowledge, understanding, and support., Den här artikeln bygger på intervjuer med föräldrar till barn i åldern 7–12 år med neuropsykiatriska funktionsnedsättningar (NPF) och visar hur covid-19-pandemin påverkade fritiden för barnen och deras familjer. Genom ett fokus på de exceptionella förhållanden som rådde under denna period belyser och problematiserar den också fritidens villkor mer generellt. Pandemin sätter de utmaningar familjerna möter i blixtbelysning och åskådliggör en intressant paradox: å ena sidan är de mer beroende än andra av att stöd kan upprätthållas, å andra sidan är de mindre beroende av att offentligt organiserad fritid fungerar. Studien visar att detta hänger samman med hur barn med NPF och deras behov möts under normala omständigheter, då funktionsnormativa (eng. ableist) förväntningar ifråga om socialt samspel, ordning och anpassning sätter gränser för barnens och familjernas aktiviteter. Resultaten pekar på hur det gör barnen beroende av föräldrars närvaro och minskar deras möjligheter att delta i samhället på sina egna villkor, något som kan motverkas genom kunskap, förståelse och stöd.

The article discusses an in-depth analysis of four assessment reports docu- menting the diagnostic procedure of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD hence- forth) in pre-school-aged children in Sweden. Authored by professionals (child psychiatrists and child psychologists), the reports contain an account of different observations, interviews, and tests-results held throughout an ASD diagnostic procedure, as well as recommendations for treatments and interventions plan, and have a “mobile” function, meaning they reach other professionals and laypersons other than the child’s parents, making their influence long-lasting. The article’s overall aim is to demonstrate how profes- sional knowledge is closely intertwined with parental knowledge, or parents’ unique “intimate expertise” (Lilley, 2011) in the written accounts making up the assessment reports, as professionals attempt to account for and establish an ASD diagnosis for a specific child. We conclude by arguing that such intertwined knowledge can be understood as materialization and an empi- rical demonstration of the network of autism expertise (Eyal, 2013), repla- cing previous historical forms of the appropriation of parental knowledge by professional actors during the procedure of ASD diagnosis in children (Eyal et al., 2010: 177).

The article discusses an in-depth analysis of four assessment reports documenting the diagnostic procedure of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD henceforth) in pre-school-aged children in Sweden. Authored by professionals (child psychiatrists and child psychologists), the reports contain an account of different observations, interviews, and tests-results held throughout an ASD diagnostic procedure, as well as recommendations for treatments and interventions plan, and have a "mobile" function, meaning they reach other professionals and laypersons other than the childs parents, making their influence long-lasting. The articles overall aim is to demonstrate how professional knowledge is closely intertwined with parental knowledge, or parents unique "intimate expertise" (Lilley, 2011) in the written accounts making up the assessment reports, as professionals attempt to account for and establish an ASD diagnosis for a specific child. We conclude by arguing that such intertwined knowledge can be understood as materialization and an empirical demonstration of the network of autism expertise (Eyal, 2013), replacing previous historical forms of the appropriation of parental knowledge by professional actors during the procedure of ASD diagnosis in children (Eyal et al., 2010: 177)., L’article traite d’une analyse approfondie de quatre rapports d’évaluation documentant la procédure de diagnostic du trouble du spectre de l’autisme (TSA dorénavant) chez les enfants à l’âge de l’école maternelle en Suède. Rédigés par des professionnels (pédopsychiatres et pédopsychologues), ces rapports contiennent un compte rendu des différentes observations, entretiens et résultats de tests effectués tout au long d’une procédure de diagnostic TSA, ainsi que des recommandations de traitements et de plans d’interventions, avec une fonction “mobile,” c’est-à-dire qu’ils atteignent d’autres professionnels et non-initiés autres que les parents de l’enfant, pour que leur impact soit plus durable. L’objectif général de cet article est de démontrer la façon dont les savoirs professionnels sont étroitement liés aux connaissances parentales ou à “l’expertise intime” unique des parents (Lilley, 2011) dans les descriptions écrites constituant les rapports d’évaluation, lorsque les professionnels essaient de rendre compte et d’établir un diagnostic TSA pour un enfant spécifique. Notre conclusion est que des connaissances ainsi co-construites peuvent être comprises comme la matérialisation et la démonstration empirique de la présence d’un réseau d’expertise en autisme (Eyal, 2013), qui remplace les formes historiques précédentes de l’appropriation par les acteurs professionnels des connaissances parentales durant la procédure du diagnostic TSA chez les enfants (Eyal et al., 2010: 177).

I många samhälleliga sammanhang återkommer en uppmaning att lyssna på barn, inte sällan med hänvisning till FN:s barnkonvention och kanske särskilt artikel 12 om rätten att bli hörd. Men vad innebär det att lyssna på barn? Mängder av böcker om lyssnande till barn som riktar sig till yrkespraktiker och andra som möter barn i sitt vardagsliv publiceras kontinuerligt. Vi saknar emellertid en kritisk diskussion som sätter frågor om lyssnande, lyssnande på barn och det goda lyssnandet i en större teoretisk kontext. Mot den bakgrunden har föreliggande artikel tillkommit. Lyssnandets problematik diskuteras här primärt i relation till monologiska och dialogiska perspektiv på kommunikation samt i relation till olika synsätt på barn (barnsyn) som lika eller olika vuxna. Avslutningsvis pekar vi på etiska implikationer som följer i kölvattnet av olika teoretiska perspektiv på lyssnande och lyssnande på barn., In many societal contexts, the importance of listening to children is underscored, not seldom with reference to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and especially Article 12 on the right to be heard. But what does it mean to listen to children? A plethora of books on listening to children aimed at professionals and others who meet children in their daily lives are published on a regular basis. However, we miss a critical discussion of listening as such, and more specifically about (good) listening to children, in relation to a larger theoretical context. The aim of this article is to discuss listening in relation to monological and dialogical perspectives on communication, as well as in relation to different notions of children as same or different from adults. Ethical implications following in the wake of different theoretical perspectives on listening and listening to children are also discussed.

Background: Chronic pain is a globally widespread condition with complex clusters of symptoms within a heterogeneous patient group. Internet-delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (IACT) has shown promising results in the treatment of chronic pain. How IACT is experienced by patients is less well known. Qualitative studies of patients experiences are needed to further understand factors behind both engagement and negative effects. The aim of this study was to explore how IACT was experienced by chronic pain patients who had participated in a controlled trial. Methods: Through an open and exploratory approach this study aimed to investigate how IACT was experienced when delivered as a guided self-help program to persons with chronic pain. Eleven participants were interviewed over telephone after completing IACT. Results: Qualitative analysis based on grounded theory resulted in 2 core categories and 8 subcategories. In treatment: Physical and cognitive restraints, Time and deadline, Therapist contact, and Self-confrontation. After treatment: Attitude to pain, Image of pain, Control or Command, and Acting with pain. Individual differences as well as specific conditions of the treatment may explain variations in how the treatment was approached, experienced and what consequences it led to. Therapist guidance and deadlines for homework play complex roles in relation to autonomy and change. Conclusions: Adjusting treatment content and format based on participants characteristics, such as expectations, motivation and restraints, might positively affect engagement, autonomy and change. Further research on attrition and negative effects of treatment might clarify what enables chronic pain patients to benefit from IACT., Funding Agencies|County Council of Ostergotland

Attachment theory, developed by child psychiatrist John Bowlby, is considered a major theory in developmental psychology. Attachment theory can be seen as resulting from Bowlbys personal experiences, his psychoanalytic education, his subsequent study of ethology, and societal developments during the 1930s and 1940s. One of those developments was the outbreak of World War II and its effects on childrens psychological wellbeing. In 1950, Bowlby was appointed WHO consultant to study the needs of children who were orphaned or separated from their families for other reasons and needed care in foster homes or institutions. The resulting report is generally considered a landmark publication in psychology, although it subsequently met with methodological criticism. In this paper, by reconstructing Bowlbys visit to several European countries, on the basis of notebooks and letters, the authors shed light on the background of this report and the way Bowlby used or neglected the findings he gathered., Funding Agencies|Kohler-Stiftung; Dr. J. L. Dobberke Stichting voor Vergelijkende Psychologie

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Föreliggande artikel berör Tilia, en ideell internetbaserad verksamhetsom organiseras av ungdomar och unga vuxna med egen erfarenhet avpsykisk ohälsa. Tilia riktar sig till andra unga som kämpar med sitt psykiskamående och har som ambition att komplettera den formella vården. Dennaartikel fokuserar på hur ungdomars psykiska ohälsa beskrivs på Tilia.se isyfte att närmare studera den språkliga repertoar om psykisk ohälsa sompresenteras på hemsidan. Analysen visar hur de ungas beskrivningarav psykisk ohälsa präglas av ett fritt användande av psykologiskt ochpsykiatriskt expertspråk och en ”normalisering” av olika känslor, somkontrast till det vuxna (expert)samhällets normer och krav. Vidare betonasden stödsökandes egen agens och ungas behov av att bli lyssnade på.

En udda fågel på besök: John Bowlby och den svenska efterkrigstidens barnpsykiatriska expertis Den brittiske barnpsykiatern John Bowlby var en mycket inflytelserik forskare i utvecklingen av anknytningsteorin som starkt betonar av moderns betydelse för barns psykiska utveckling och hälsa. Ett avgörande steg för Bowlby var den WHO-rapport om föräldralösa barns vård och omsorg år 1950 som han fick i uppdrag att skriva 1949. Som ett led i den uppgiften besökte Bowlby USA, Frankrike, Holland och Sverige och i anteckningsböcker och brev, som finns bevarade vid Wellcome Library i London, återger Bowlby sina intryck. Den föreliggande artikeln syftar till att redogöra för och diskutera betydelsen av Bowlbys veckolånga besök i Sverige. Med stöd av arkivmaterial (anteckningsböcker, brev) återges besöket och Bowlbys intryck från Sverige, som sedan analyseras i relation till WHO-rapportens slutliga text. Vilka är det som Bowlby skriver om i breven och vilka refereras i rapporten? Vad är det som Bowlby lyfter fram som viktigt och vad är det han kritiserar när han möter de svenska barnexperterna? Bowlby togs emot på ett öppet och vänligt sätt, men hans idéer om mamma-barn-relationens betydelse och separationens potentiellt skadliga inverkan mottogs med stor tveksamhet av svenska barnexperter, som vid den tiden främst bestod av barnläkare. Bland de svenska barnläkarna vid denna tid fanns två olika inriktningar, en radikal med psykoanalytiska förtecken och en arvs- och konstitutionsfokuserad. Utåt sett attackerade och svartmålade företrädare för dessa olika synsätt varandra, vilket Bowlby tydligt återger. Samtidigt visar artikeln att Bowlby inte entydigt kunde förhålla sig någondera av dessa inriktningar. Bowlbys å ena sidan starka förankring i psykoanalytisk teori och klinisk verksamhet innebar att han identifierade sig med de radikala och vid den tiden nya psykoanalytiska krafterna. Å andra sidan, Bowlbys avvisade hållning gentemot ärftlighets- och konstitutionsforskare blev utma, The mismatch between John Bowlby and post-war Swedish child psychiatry: Account of a research visit In the first half of 1950, the British psychiatrist and psychoanalyst John Bowlby visited France, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the USA to gain information about the state of the art in the care of homeless children. The World Health Organization published Bowlby’s conclusions as Maternal Care and Mental Health (1952). The article aims to present an account and discussion of Bowlby’s weeklong visit to Sweden, based on previously unpublished notebooks and letters. The analysis shows a clear mismatch between Bowlby’s ideas and those of his Swedish hosts working in child psychiatry and social care. At first sight, Bowlby seemed to align with the Swedish psychoanalytically oriented child psychiatrists, while rejecting those Swedish experts who represented a biological approach with ideas about heredity, but it was more complicated than that. Bowlby also appreciated the methodological rigor and statistical methods of the latter current. What he did not appreciate, however, was that both Swedish currents, despite their mutual disagreements, shared a similar view of the importance of the environment for child development that was much broader than his own. For Bowlby’s hosts, environmental factors such as housing, schooling, parental care, number of siblings, social contacts, etc. were all important for the understanding of poor mental health and social maladjustment in childhood. As also becomes clear from the title of his book, Bowlby rejected such a broad approach and focused exclusively on mother-child bonding as determining children’s mental development and health. This mismatch between Bowlby and the Swedish experts explains why Bowlby paid only scarce attention to Swedish views in his WHO report, why this report and his later ideas about the importance of mother-child attachment initially met with little enthusiasm, and why he remained a "queer fish" in Sweden.

Den här artikeln handlar en omfattande satsning på att transportera ca 5000 sjuka finska barn till Sverige för vård och behandling under och efter andra världskriget. Sjuktransporterna pågick ända till slutet av 1940-talet. Det var ett projekt som försiggick parallellt med förflyttningar av ca 70 000 finska barn för tillfälliga placeringar i Sverige under kriget. Sjuktransporterna skiljde sig organisatoriskt i den meningen att statliga aktörer från både Finland och Sverige var involverade. Den svenska staten bidrog med ett substantiellt finansiellt stöd. Resultatet blev en gränsöverskridande socialmedicinsk satsning.

This article focuses on a psycho-educational programme, DISA, currently practised in the Swedish schools to prevent girls from developing depressive symptoms. We draw on group interviews with schoolgirls to explore how they describe DISA and how an understanding of the programme is constructed through their arguments. We demonstrate how the girls’ version of DISA highlights a contradiction in the intervention that is traceable to the theoretical underpinnings of the programme and the mix of traditions — treatment and prevention — that constitute the intervention. We discuss problematic aspects of DISA and outline implications for policy practice., Funders: Swedish National Institute of Public Health [HFAngstrom 2008/213]

The present study explores the discursive positioning of children in research articles on mental–health-promoting interventions. The questions under investigation are: are children positioned as active or passive agents, are children’s health and wellbeing contextualised, and if so how? How is the child perceived; that is, how are age, gender, socioeconomic status, family structure, dis/ability, and so on accounted for? We found that the positioning of the child as passive and formed by adults prevails; health is largely individualised and decontextualised in that it is depicted as being contingent on the person’s own capabilities. However, there are instances in which children are positioned as active subjects, their opinions are in focus, and their health and wellbeing are connected to social relations and context. We propose a more active discussion about how children and wellbeing are conceptualised in the outlining, implementation and research of public health interventions. Moreover, children – just like adults – should be increasingly regarded as service users who are entitled to have a say in matters that concern them.

The article draws on interviews with participants in a psychotherapeutic education programme, called Depression in Swedish Adolescents, which has seen wide distribution within Swedish schools. We demonstrate how, in their accounts, self-disclosure in front of classmates is made into a central and both positive and problematic aspect of the programme. Sharing private matters in a group setting consisting of classmates might strengthen their interpersonal relations; but at the same time, it carries the risk of triggering already ongoing destructive interactions such as bullying and harassment. Voluntary participation, group composition and paying attention to how members respond to one another and make use of the private information shared stand out as important criteria to consider. However, in order to meet these criteria, an intervention involving self-disclosure in front of classmates needs to challenge the tradition in school of practising mandatory participation, as well as the class structures with their predefined group composition.

In Europe during World War II, evacuations of children without parents from war zones and war-affected areas were common. Evacuations required administration and extensive logistics, and financial resources had to be obtained. Governments and government agencies were involved but their political aims and motivations differed. The following chapter examines the evacuation of Finnish war children to Sweden during World War II. It focuses on the sick Finnish war children whose evacuation and medical care in Sweden became a concern of the Swedish state. Based on an analysis of medical records, the construction of children and the state’s role in the evacuations is discussed. A historical perspective on evacuations of war children during WWII offers an opportunity to reflect on the current situation of unaccompanied refugee children and their arrival to European countries today.

Intercountry adoption policy emphasizes openness in relation to adoptees’ background. However, because intercountry adoption is a complex web of relations including individuals, institutions and countries, it is impossible to foresee what background, origin and roots will mean to the adopted individual. The present article examines what meanings adoptees themselves ascribe to background, origin and roots. A total of 22 internationally adopted men and women participated in focus group conversations. The participants were invited to discuss their diverse experiences and opinions on these matters and their stories were analyzed from a narrative perspective. The analysis focuses how time and space were made significant in narratives about background, origin and roots. Two contrasting stories – the here-and-now narrative and the there-and-then narrative – are discerned, but further analysis of the narrative space and time dimensions shows a much more complex pattern beyond these extremes. Adoptee narratives characterized by an open time dimension deal with what could have happened, alternative lives, and the analysis shows how these alternative lives are storied and valued. Furthermore, when adoptees tell their stories about background and roots, ‘there’, i. e. the birth country, is ascribed different meanings. Our analysis shows that the categorization of space as wide or narrow, in the sense of collective or personal, respectively, is useful in understanding the different approaches to background and roots. Based on the present results, we suggest that social workers may wish to organize their counseling along the time and space dimensions of adoptees’ narratives., Culture of origin and culture of living. The significance of culture for transnational adoptees’ health and quality of life. (Financed by the Swedish Research Council) Ursprungskultur och uppväxtkultur. Kulturens betydelse för internationellt adopterades hälsa och livskvalitet. (Finansieras av Vetenskapsrådet, VR)

The aim of this study was to analyze clients’ accounts of important events in psychotherapy, by examining both what types of therapy events clients describe as important, and how their talk about the events is shaped and organized within the context of the research interviews. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight clients after their third session. A content analysis of the clients’ accounts yielded descriptions of five types of important events: feeling validated/understood, gaining insight/understanding/awareness, exploring feelings/experiencing emotions, therapist omission/therapeutic impasse, and advice/problem solving. In a second step, a discourse analysis identified one dominating interpretative repertoire that clients drew on to construct therapy as a special kind of talk that is different from everyday talk. Clients were also found to account for their experience and expertise as clients and to reject invitations to speculate about the therapist’s thoughts and feelings. These were strategies clients used to handle attempts to trouble their positions as clients, while at the same time maintaining the special-kind of talk-repertoire and addressing their accountability as clients.

The present article discusses how 12 children (five to eight years) in planned lesbian familiestalk about families, parents and specifically ‘daddies’ as such and not having a father themselves.Findings from child interviews demonstrate that the children described daddies as ‘the same’ asmummies, i.e. as having the same functions. This contrasts with previous research showing howchildren of heterosexuals often describe mothers and fathers as different. The children varied interms of how they labelled donors. Some children adopted the denomination ‘daddy’, drawing ona paternity discourse, while others simply referred to him as ‘a man’.