Sammendrag
The study examines the social impacts of the novel Coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19, on childhood and family life at home in Finland. The study takes on a rights-based, participatory, and relational approach in exploring children’s intrafamilial relationships, activities, and social well-being within the shared space of home and in the broader context of the COVID-19 crisis. It seeks to investigate how COVID-19 conditions and constraints have inevitably altered children’s everyday lives with a focus on (1) family relations and childhood, (2) activities and use of the home space, and (3) further reflections and hopes for COVID-19. In light of conducting fieldwork during a pandemic, the study employs the physically distanced and unobtrusive design of the cultural probe package and online survey questionnaires. Inside the cultural probe package is a variety of visual, written, and creative child-centered yet interactive tools and tasks (e.g., drawing, activity card game, photo-voice, ranking, sentence completion) designed to provide children and their families with a playful, explorative, and meaningful opportunity to reflect upon family and home life pre and post-Corona Spring. Participants are four families composed of children (ages 5-15) and parents living together in the capital region of Finland. A thematic analysis of the data illustrates the similarities, differences, and exceptional coping strategies that highlight family resilience during times of crisis. Results demonstrate an increase in and value of family time, time outdoors, as well as newfound (and virtual) hobbies and interests. Moreover, the participatory methods enabled intergenerational collaboration and engagement among the researcher, children, and their families. The contributions of the study are three-fold: (a) to develop systematic yet meaningful participatory methods and ethics in child-centered research, b) to examine Finnish childhood, intergenerational relationships, and everyday family life, and (c) to highlight a family resilience framework in mitigating the harmful social effects of a generation-defining phenomenon such as the COVID-19 pandemic.