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Climate Psychology pp 41–59Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Children and Climate Change: Exploring Children’s Feelings About Climate Change Using Free Association Narrative Interview Methodology

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Part of the book series: Studies in the Psychosocial ((STIP))

Abstract

This chapter shows how the Free Association Narrative Interview method, developed by Hollway and Jefferson (Doing qualitative research differently: A psychosocial approach. Sage, London, 2013) was used to explore children’s feelings and attitudes about climate change; an important gap in existing research. It examines how researchers using this methodology can ‘play’ with the imaginal landscape of the work Romanyshyn (International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches 7:314–329, 2013); engage children creatively in research about climate change using personification and metaphor and use reflective reverie to establish dialogue between the conscious and unconscious mind of the researcher. Including children’s voices in this psycho-social research may in turn impact on adult attitudes, feelings and action on climate change. The findings show they have an understanding that can open up a different dialogue and way of thinking about climate change for all of us.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bath, Bath, UK

    Caroline Hickman

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  1. Caroline Hickman
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Correspondence to Caroline Hickman .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol, UK

    Paul Hoggett

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Hickman, C. (2019). Children and Climate Change: Exploring Children’s Feelings About Climate Change Using Free Association Narrative Interview Methodology. In: Hoggett, P. (eds) Climate Psychology. Studies in the Psychosocial. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11741-2_3

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