Agency operating within structures: A qualitative exploration of agency amongst children living in Palestine

Abstract

Our research challenges the picture of children exposed to political violence as helpless victims, portraying them as active agents who mobilize resources both within themselves and their social, physical, political world. Based on drawings and walk-along interviews with 70 Palestinian children, the present study provides an analysis of children’s agency across the multiple settings in which they live. Our findings highlight the interconnections between the children’s agentic practices and the multiple ecologies implied in promoting – or suppressing – their opportunity to cope with their surroundings.