Communication in interviews with teenagers on sensitive topics

The research design with participation of children and adolescents has some distinctive features. They are caused by the legal status of this age group, its psycho-physiological characteristics, the place of the group itself and its autonomy in the system of social relations. Particular concern in collecting materials is caused by questions involving sensitivity. In conditions when the research participants themselves belong to the sensitized field, the difficulties are multiplied. The object of the 2019 study, conducted at the Sociology Clinic of Applied Research (St. Petersburg State University), was teenage girls 16-19 years old participating in the program “A Firm Step into Adulthood”. The informants had a sensitive experience such as raising without parents, staying in an orphanage. Therefore, such techniques as "peer-to-peer", projective techniques "Life Line", "Chamomile", and vignette questions were used to build effective communication. Interviews in the peer-to-peer format were not implemented to the fullest extent, as similarities in gender, age, and differences in social experiences between interviewers and informants did not allow to level the boundaries in interactions. The questions about Internet safety and drug risks were the most difficult to get truthful answers. Overall, the study showed that despite the blurring boundaries of social norms in older adolescence, the areas of life that are strictly controlled by social institutions proved to be the most sensitive for study participants compared to those considered as such in public opinion, such as the loss of parents. 

sensitivity, adolescents, projective techniques, vignettes, peer-to-peer interviews