Children’s agency in peer relationships: exemplifying Chinese Left-behind Children

This multi-method qualitative research explores Chinese Left-behind Children’s (LBC) relational agency in their peer relationships within school and family settings. It aims to challenge stereotypes by viewing LBC as active social agents rather than passive recipients of the negative consequences of parental migration.
The research addresses 3 key questions: 1) How do Chinese LBC enact relational agency in their peer interactions? 2) What are the relational constraints imposed by others, including peers and adults, in the context of Chinese LBC’s agency in peer relationships? 3) How do Chinese LBC react to these constraints in their peer interactions?
Relational agency, relational constraints, and children’s capacities for negotiating and justifying social norms with peers are central conceptual elements informed by theories from the sociology of childhood and broader sociological frameworks. These elements guided the research questions, shaped interview prompts, and structured the 3 empirical chapters corresponding to the research questions.
Qualitative data were collected from 16 participants aged 9 to 16 through online and in-person interviews, as well as text and audio messages on WeChat, between March 2022 and October 2023. Online interviews and instant messages on WeChat were the primary data sources, supplemented by WeChat Moments posts and in-person interviews to enrich the analysis. Narrative, discourse, and thematic analyses were applied sequentially to examine the data and organise the empirical findings.
Chapter 5 focuses on how Chinese LBC enacted agency in their peer relationships. Chapter 6 analyses the relational constraints they faced, emphasising the dominant influence of adult-imposed norms on their interactions with peers. Chapter 7 explores LBC’s responses to these constraints, highlighting their strategies for negotiating normativity and justifying social behaviours among peers. Their responses to relational constraints are understood as another expression of their relational agency.
This research: 1) challenges stereotypes about Chinese LBC by focusing on their agency rather than their vulnerabilities; 2) contributes to the social construction of children’s agency by adopting a relational approach; and 3) broadens the understanding of children’s agency by situating it within the Chinese context.