Gymnastik- och idrottshögskolan, GIH

The right of children to have their voices heard is emphasized in Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (United Nations, 1989). There are different ways to listen to children, based on among other things the underlying research approach (Andrén & Zetterqvist Nelson, 2024). Researchers use various methods to implement CRC, but there is a continued tendency to value adult perspectives on child issues. There is a need for studies using participatory approaches to involve children in expressing their opinions and experiences (Lorgen et al., 2025). However, research with children is not automatically more ethical than research on children (Bodén, 2021; Clark, 2017; Hammarsten, 2024; James, 2007). Regardless of approach, in-depth methodological and ethical reflections are essential for advancing awareness in the field (Bodén, 2021; Corsaro, 2024; Fitzgerald et al., 2020).  Drawing on a study inspired by the Mosaic approach (Clark, 2017) to explore children's (10-12 years) experiences of movement opportunities at school, this article aims to identify ethical dilemmas when researchers’ preconceptions clash with the realities of children. By using the concept of empathic listening, we will discuss the possibilities of bridging the gap between researchers’ preconceptions and children’s perspectives. 

Tidigare studier av barns fysiska aktivitet har främst inriktats mot att mäta hur mycket och hur ofta barn rör sig i förhållande till Världshälsoorganisationens (WHO) rekommendationer. Studierna säger dock lite om barns syn på rörelse och vad som behövs för att barn ska vilja och kunna röra sig. Skolan framställs som en plattform för att ge alla barn möjligheter till rörelse, men idag ges inte alla barn de förutsättningar de behöver. Mot denna bakgrund är syftet med studien att undersöka barns rörelsemöjligheter i skolan med fokus på deras upplevda delaktighet. De metoder som använts är intervjuer och gåturer med barn i åldern 10–12 år. För att synliggöra och problematisera hur barn upplever möjligheter till rörelse presenteras resultaten i form av sammansatta berättelser. Studien visar att köns-, idrotts- och hälsonormer kan (sam)verka och begränsa barns delaktighet och rörelsemöjligheter samt på vilka sätt.

Historically, social welfare providers have defined social and ethnic minorities such as ‘vagrants’ and Romani people as non-deserving and thus excluded them from their work. Gradually during the nineteenth century, however, Christian actors and organizations across Europe were among the first to recognize Romani groups as legitimate targets of relief. The operations required boundary changes where previously undeserving categories were transferred to deserving, thus becoming legitimate targets of relief. The article discusses the Church of Sweden’s social care for minorities, with a special focus on Romani groups from the 1910s to the 1940s. At that point, Protestant social work was permeated by conservative paternalism and focused on changing the individual through interventions defined as help-to-self-help, rather than challenging the unjust social structures in Swedish society. However, welfare measures were enacted differently depending on the majority/minority position of the individual; the recognition or rejection of minority rights affected the distribution and content of Lutheran social welfare. Examining church-led or church-endorsed activities, the contribution sheds light on the differentiation of social and ethnic subgroups and brings nuance to a field that has overlooked the Swedish state church as a welfare provider in the twentieth century. The instances of intersection between and sometimes confusion of social and ethnic boundaries serve as examples of the historicity of such boundaries and churchmen’s contribution to establishing these.

The 1945 census was the last to record ethnicity in Sweden, and in 1973, registering ethnicity became virtually illegal. Swedish population statistics and official health and social registers therefore do not contain information on the ethnic background of the people registered. Exploring socio-medical and epidemiological research in Sweden from the 1940s to the 1980s, the chapter discusses the tension between ethical and legal constraints on the one hand, and the scientific, administrative, and political need for accurate information on minority and ethnic groups on the other. Three alternative research strategies to substitute for the lack of data on ethnicity are identified: using alternative but related categories such as nationality, country of birth, or immigrant status; “reading ethnicity” from pre-existing data collections; and conducting time-consuming and costly special studies designed to enable researchers to bypass the proscription of ethnic registration. These strategies have produced new epidemiological and socio-medical understandings concerning ethnicity and health/disease. However, as certain groups and categories have been statistically more available or visible in society than others, an uneven body of knowledge has evolved. In effect, some minorities have been spotlighted while others have remained hidden in plain sight.