Storytelling: a method for enabling a child to become an active participant in child protection assessment in the example of substitute care

ABSTRACT

This paper examines and reflects on a storytelling method that enables children to share their life stories in the intervention and decision-making process associated with child protection evaluations. The child is granted an active role in this process by directly participating in telling their life experiences. The example described herein centers on the case of a 14-year-old girl from SOS Children’s Village (CV) and how storytelling is used to capture details of her personal history, focusing on the themes of the child’s place of birth, home and life before placement, the move into placement and everyday life at SOS CV.

KEYWORDS:

• Storytelling
• child protection assessment
• child participation
• assessment method
• life experience

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Estonian Research Council [PSG305].