Spatial agency and wellbeing amongst children living in a context of armed conflict and political violence. A qualitative exploration of children’s everyday spatial practices in Palestine

Recognizing children as agency holders means considering them as actively involved in giving sense to their own reality and in improving their own wellbeing and quality of life. An increased number of studies evidences that children are capable of actively mobilizing resources to protect themselves from the negative consequences of war and violence. However, little empirical research has been conducted on the role of agency in children’s lives and wellbeing. The present work aimed to contribute to a more critical understanding of children’s wellbeing exploring the sources of spatial agency used by children to counteract the harmful consequences of ongoing exposure to trauma. Using a participative and narrative method (drawings and walk-along interviews), the present study offers an analysis of how 29 Palestinian children, living in a refugee camp in West Bank (M=9,66; SD=1,63; range: 7-13), use domestic and social spaces to maintain positive function and subjective wellbeing. Five main theme were identified: school and education, mosque and religious places, private internal spaces, community places and outdoor areas. In our findings, children struggle to preserve their psychological wellbeing by reinventing and repossessing their everyday spaces. Children’s spatial agency emerged as a key factor for enabling and potentiating wellbeing in children.