University of Gothenburg
University of Gothenburg
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Rakel Berman

Senior Lecturer

Department of Social
Work
Telephone
+46 31-786 63 82
Mail
rakel.berman@socwork.gu.se
Visiting address
Sprängkullsgatan 25
41123 Göteborg
Postal address
Box 720
40530 Göteborg

About Rakel Berman

I have a PhD in Social Work, and is teaching and doing research at the Department of Social Work at University of Gothenburg. Previous to my doctoral studies I have been working as a social worker. My professional focus has been mainly on social work practice with adolescents and their families.

Research interests

  • Dual residence / shared residence / joint physical custody
  • Post-divorce childhood and the post-separation care of children
  • Family practices
  • Children and childhood
  • Families and relationships
  • Changing family forms

PhD project Children’s perspectives on dual residence in Sweden

Dual-residence arrangements, where children split their time equally between their divorced or separated parents, have increased in many western countries in recent times. My PhD study explored Swedish children’s narratives about their residential arrangements and dual-residence practices. It looked into these children’s day-to-day experiences of sharing their time between two households, focusing on how children actively participate in the process of shaping family life and their own childhoods in the context of family change. How do they frame their family life, their leisure and their friendships while belonging to two families and moving between two households? How do they take part in decision making related to their living arrangement?

The study was based on qualitative in-depth interviews with 20 children aged nine to eighteen, living in dual-residence arrangements. Theoretically, it was based on childhood sociology, as well as the concepts of participation, family practices and 'doing family'.