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Accessing Children’s Experiences of Loneliness through Conversations

University of Alberta

In research on childhood loneliness, the predominant questions have been, What is children’s conception of loneliness? and How can it be measured? The question of how to approach children to talk about their subjective experiences of loneliness has not been adequately addressed. This article proposes a game-playing approach for initiating conversations with children about their experiences of loneliness. Excerpts from an audiotaped game-playing session with a six-year-old child are used to illustrate a typical session and analyze how it can establish common ground, shared meaning, and trust between an interviewer and an interviewee. The interview procedure provided a deeper understanding of the experiential aspects of childhood loneliness regarding lived space, lived other, lived body, and lived time. It also made it possible to distinguish the phenomenon of loneliness from the similar yet different experiences of aloneness, solitude, and boredom.

Key Words: childhood • loneliness • interpersonal game • phenomenology

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