Rationale
CAPS is a broad-based research project designed to analyse children’s knowing agency following their parents’ separation. The component studies examine how children's agency and knowledge take shape in private, multiprofessional and societal settings and how their voices become heard in the dialogues between social work, education and law. The work rests on the conviction that children have a right to knowledge and agency under what are victimising, high-risk circumstances and that they are entitled to protection in the private, multiprofessional and societal settings they encounter.
CAPS addresses its chosen topics through a variety of approaches and data, with the sources including interviews with children and young people, therapeutic action group sessions for children, a survey of young people and case files on court judgements on stalking.
CAPS will contribute a better understanding of stalking and of the needs of children who have been victims of it. Its results will also serve to promote children’s and young people’s rights, enrich practices and inform policy-making.
Results
With a focus on children and young people, the project aims to:
- Produce fresh, multidisciplinary research on the chosen age group as victims of violence and as active subjects. The focal studies will enrich dialogue in social work, law and education.
- Create new empirical knowledge on how the population of interest experience post-separation stalking. The studies in this vein will draw on a conceptual framework embracing power, knowledge and agency.
- Analyse the participants’ knowledge, agency and rights and determine the value society gives to these.
- Enrich research methods and research ethics for studying sensitive phenomena. The emphasis here will be on enabling the agency and participation of young victims of violence.
Funding bodies


Collaborative partners
The project is advised by a national steering committee and supported by a network of national and international partners prepared to promoting the research process and the dissemination of results.

Project period
1 Sep 2017 – 31 Aug 2021
Would you like to participate in the study?
Are you interested in participating the study? If so, please contact Anna Nikupeteri anna.nikupeteri(at)ulapland.fi or call tel. +35840 484 4179.
Nollalinja > tel. 080 005 005. Nollalinja helps anyone who has experienced psychological, physical or sexual violence or threat of violence in an intimate relationship, family members of victims of violence and professionals and officials who need advice in their customer work. Calling to Nollalinja is free of charge. You can talk to our professionals in Finnish, Swedish or English.
Women's Line > tel. 0800 02400. Women’s Line is meant for every woman and girl suffering from abuse, threats or fear.
VARJO-project > VARJO is a research and development project focusing on stalking.
Laitinen, M. & Nikupeteri, A., Hurtig, J. 2018: Häiritsevä tieto ja toimijuus: lapset vanhempien eron jälkeisessä vainossa [Disturbing knowledge and agency: Children’s experiences of parental stalking]. Teoksessa Valkonen, J. (toim.): Häiritsevä yhteiskuntatutkimus [Disturbing social science research]. Lapland University Press, Rovaniemi, 23–50.
Laitinen, M. & Nikupeteri, A. 2018: Researching Children’s Experiences of Parental Stalking: Narrative Research on Sensitive Topics with Children and Young People. ResearchMethods Cases. Sage Publishing.
Nikupeteri, A. & Laitinen, M. 2017: Lasten sensitiivisten kokemusten tutkimisen metodologiset valinnat – Esimerkkinä vanhempien eron jälkeisen vainon tutkimusprosessi. Kasvatus & Aika 11 (1), 6–23.
Nikupeteri, A. 2017: Stalked Lives: Finnish Women’s Emotional Experiences of Post-Separation Stalking. Nordic Social Work Research 17 (1), 6–17.
Nikupeteri, A. 2016: Vainottuna. Eron jälkeisen vainon tunnistaminen ja uhrien kohtaaminen. [Being Stalked: Recognizing Post-Separation Stalking and Helping its Victims].Acta Universitatis Lapponiensis 336. Lapin yliopisto. Rovaniemi.

25.4.2018
Kasvatus & Aika -lehden vuoden 2017 parhaan artikkelin palkinto Nikupeteri, A. & Laitinen, M.: Lasten sensitiivisten kokemusten tutkimisen metodologiset valinnat – Esimerkkinä vanhempien eron jälkeisen vainon tutkimusprosessi (Kasvatus & Aika 1/2017).
Lue lisää palkinnosta >
Lue artikkeli >

10.4.2018
Professori Merja Laitisen ja tutkijatohtori Anna Nikupeterin “Researching children’s experiences of parental stalking: Learning from co-operation between researchers and practitioners” valittiin neljän parhaan jätetyn abstraktin joukkoon kansainvälisessä ja monitieteisessä BASPCAN’n konferenssissa.
Lue lisää >

11.12.2017
New book published by the Federation of Mother and Child Homes and Shelters
Laitinen, Kinnunen & Hannus (toim.) 2017: Varjosta valoon. Eron jälkeisen vainon tunnistaminen, katkaisu ja uhrien selviytymisen tukeminen.
Ensi- ja turvakotien liitto. Helsinki.
Lue lisää >

24.1.2017
Storybook published by the Federation of Mother and Child Homes and Shelters
Timo Harjun kirjoittama ja Nina Haikon kuvittama satukirja Satu kameleontille ja muita satuja sinulle on syntynyt VARJO-hankkeen ideasta vainoa kohdanneiden lasten auttamiseksi. Satukirja on tarkoitettu erityisesti eron jälkeistä vainoa kokeneille lapsille, mutta myös muille lapsille, jotka joutuvat kohtaamaan vanhempien eron. Kirjan on kustantanut Ensi- ja turvakotien liitto.
Lue lisää >

Mirva Lohiniva-Kerkelä
Associate Professor
Law
tel. + 358 40 484 4024
mirva.lohiniva-kerkela(at)ulapland.fi
Research Profile LaCRIS >

Kati Kallinen
University Lecturer
Social Work
te. + 358 40 484 4157
kati.kallinen(at)ulapland.fi
Research Profile LaCRIS >

Carita Lappi
Research Assistant
Social Work

Helena Ewalds
Helena Ewalds works as a Head of Unit and Development Manager at the Department of Government Services, National Institute for Health and Welfare. She is a national expert on violence against women and domestic violence. She has experience at a local level in the municipalities as well as at a national and international level in developing strategies to prevent violence against women.
National Institute for Health and Welfare >

Expert by Experience
As a young Expert by Experience, I want to advocate the voice of children and young people and promote the rights of the many who live in difficult family circumstances.

Sirkku Mehtola
Sirkku Mehtola works as an Executive Director at VIOLA - Free from Violence, a member association of the Federation of Mother and Child Homes and Shelters.
VIOLA – Free from Violence >

Kevät Nousiainen
Kevät Nousiainen is Professor Emerita of Comparative Law and Legal Theory at the University of Turku and has worked extensively with gender studies in law.

Mikko Oranen
Mikko Oranen is a Licentiate of Psychology with a specialist degree in developmental psychology. He is the Development Director at Nuorten Ystävät (NY). NY provides social services for children, young people and families.

Minna Piispa
Minna Piispa has a Doctor of Social Science degree and works as a Ministerial Adviser at the Department of Criminal Policy of the Ministry of Justice. Her many tasks include the coordination of initiatives for the prevention of violence in intimate relationships. She is also the Executive Secretary of the Council for Crime Prevention.

Kirsi Pollari
Kirsi Pollari is a lawyer working as a Senior Advisor at the Central Union for Child Welfare. She is engaged in advocacy work relating to children's rights at both a governmental and a regional level.
Central Union for Child Welfare >

Maria Eriksson
Professor in Social Work
Ersta Sköndal Bräcke, Sweden
Profile >

Emma Katz
Lecturer in Childhood and Youth
Liverpool Hope University, UK
Profile >

Zlatana Knezevic
Doctoral student
Mälardalen University, Sweden
Visiting University of Lapland 27.8-19.10.2018
Profile >
Brigita Kreiviniene
Associate professor
Department of Social Work
Klaipėda University, Lithuania
ResearchGate >

Tarja Pösö
Professori
Sosiaalityö
Tampereen yliopisto
Profiili >

Lorraine Radford
Professor of Social Policy and Social Work
The University of Central Lancashire, UK
Profile >

Valdas Rimkus
Associate Professor
Department of Social Work
Klaipėda University, Lithuania
Profile >
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