Narrating the good life – children in shelters for abused women talk about the future

Abstract

The aim of this article is to study children living with their mothers in shelters for abused women and their narratives about the future. Voices of five children and adolescents (11–17 years old) and their hopes and concerns about the future are analyzed using narrative analysis. The analysis shows that the children narrate ‘the good life’, which can be understood as narrating ‘ordinary life’, for example, everyday life with school, a safe home and friends. The article proposes that ‘the good life narrative’ is part of a master narrative at the shelter. Although the children do not narrate past events, their stories are positioned against their lives both prior to and during their shelter stay. These narratives can be understood as narratives of solutions and, as such, provide important knowledge about children living in shelters for abused women and their hopes for the future.