Publication
Title
See the unseen : a co-creation design process for children with incarcerated parents
Author
Abstract
Children are the future, but we often ignore their opinions and ideas with the excuse that they are too young to understand the world. Especially in the process of caretaking, adults often disregard the importance of the child’s agency. This is even more the case for children with an incarcerated parent, who innocently carry the consequences of their parent’s crime. As a result, children of incarcerated parents feel powerless; they are stuck in a situation created by adults and have no control over their future perspectives. If designers successfully want to design for children with incarcerated parents, they need to collaborate with them. This paper describes the importance of and the methods for involving vulnerable children in the design process. As part of an 8-month lasting master thesis project, methods are explored for co-creation with children. During this process, children took on the role of design partners, they were the experts of their experiences while the designer was the facilitator. Co-creation with children was essential for a successful design process, yet this came with a variety of challenges and risks. Co-creation removed the powerlessness of children of prisoners by giving them control over the design process through consultation and participation. By providing information, input, artifacts, methods, and tools the involved children were able to understand and place questions and assignments better, it took away their uncertainty, misunderstanding, and confusion. Further, as a designer, it was necessary to call on the expertise of child therapists and caregivers, who can prepare designers for dialogue with vulnerable children.
Language
English
Source (book)
Connectivity and Creativity in times of Conflict: proceedings of the Cumulus 10th International Conference (Cumulus 2023), 12-15 April, 2023, Antwerp, Belgium
Publication
Gent : Academia Press , 2023
ISBN
978-94-014-9647-6
DOI
10.26530/9789401496476-103
Volume/pages
p. 524-528
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Record
Identifier
Creation 08.02.2024
Last edited 17.06.2024
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