Children's living conditions and well-being (BLIVA)

Children's living conditions and well-being (BLIVA) is a multi-disciplinary research group focused on mechanisms that drive children’s positive development and well-being. In BLIVA, social relations in children’s and young people’s life are studied, with a specific focus on violent, conflict-filled and offensive relations as well as supportive, helping and developing relations. Because children are involved in multiple relations and interactions important for their development and well-being, we employ a holistic approach that looks at the underlying processes that may drive co-occurring victimization or supportive processes. Our research aims therefore to be at the forefront of theory as well as practical applications.

We aim to study the fundamental mechanisms that drive children’s positive development and well-being with a specific focus on both hindering and supportive interactions and relations, to utilize this knowledge for preventive and treatment interventions.

Our research group aims to answer questions such as:

• What does victimization to different and multiple forms of violence, abuse, neglect and harm in different and multiple types of relations mean for children and young people in terms of their own understanding and their wellbeing?
• How can different sources of supportive relations and interactions mitigate the negative effects of such victimization?

How can our understanding of children’s and young people’s experiences of harmful and supportive relations respectively be more conceptually nuanced?