Tale Steen-Johnsen

• Steen-Johnsen, Tale; Skreland, Lisbeth Ljosdal & Kimathi, Eric (2026). Trauma-Based Care as Marginalising Practice. In Piazza, Roberta; Ringrow, Helen; Maruenda-Bataller, Sergio & Gregori-Signes, Carmen (Ed.), The Language of Marginality and Subjectivity in a Global Context. Bloomsbury Academic. ISSN 9781350448582. p. 37–54. doi: 10.5040/9781350448612.ch-2. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this article, we discuss in what ways trauma-informed care (TIC) can be understood as a marginalising practice. Trauma-informed care is an interactional approach to care based on attachment theory and neuroscience and is becoming a widely used tool in institutions caring for children and youth (Jørgensen 2013: 10). Through a study of kindergarten teachers who have been trained in TIC, we describe how the use of this approach takes precedence over other pedagogical principles. Although we acknowledge that attention to trauma is based on good intentions and potentially helpful for traumatised children, we suggest that attention to trauma runs the risk of influencing everyday practices and understandings of children and childhoods in kindergartens as well as categorising an entire social group. Understanding TIC as a discursive social technology enables us to interrogate the political power behind it as a tool meant to ensure that a specific social group is enabled to participate in society. This article explores how the TIC discourse influences refugee children’s capacity to interact actively, equitably and productively in the societies in which they take part.

• Steen-Johnsen, Tale; Haaland, Hanne; Magnussen, May-Linda & Wallevik, Hege (2025). Kvinnelige førsteamanuensers relasjon til og reorientering i arbeidet sitt etter sykmelding. Tidsskrift for kjønnsforskning. ISSN 0809-6341. 49(3), p. 103–115. doi: 10.18261/tfk.49.3.2. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  I denne artikkelen setter vi søkelyset på hvordan et utvalg kvinnelige førsteamanuenser tenker om og reorienterer sitt arbeid etter en eller flere perioder med sykmelding. Problemstillingen i artikkelen er den følgende: Hva slags forhandlinger gjør kvinnelige førsteamanuenser i relasjon til eget arbeid i og etter en periode med sykmelding? Studien er basert på intervjuer med syv førsteamanuenser ved et ungt norsk universitet, og vi benytter Lauren Berlants teori om «ond optimisme» som sensitiverende begrepspar for å forstå førsteamanuensenes erfaringer. Vi viser at sykmelding oppleves som en eksistensiell erfaring som tvinger informantene til å finne nye måter å balansere arbeid og helse på, og vi kaller denne prosessen en «reorientering». Etter en slik opplevelse prioriterer deltagerne i studien verdier som de selv mener er viktige i arbeidet, og søker støtte fra kollegaer gjennom å vise ekthet og sårbarhet. Reorienteringen innebærer også en økt vektlegging av undervisning og studentkontakt samt en kritisk holdning til publisering og forskningssynlighet. Dette er verdier som noen av informantene ikke opplever at vektlegges i universitetets målesystemer. En reforhandling av slike verdier blir beskrevet av informantene som tungt og som et til tider eksistensielt arbeid som også kan trues av manglende lederstøtte og moralske anfektelser. Studien bidrar til synliggjøring av reorientering som en del av relasjonen til arbeidet i det neoliberale akademia etter sykmelding. Forskningen vi presenterer her, gir også innsikt i betydningen av kjønn i akademia og bidrar til en diskusjon om hvorvidt kvinner ofte må forhandle om sitt arbeidsforhold på måter som menn ikke må i samme grad.

• Steen-Johnsen, Tale & Magnussen, May-Linda (2025). Flyktningbarna. Løser arbeid med flyktningbarns følelser og hjerner integreringsfloken? In Nilsen, Ann Christin Eklund & Skarpenes, Ove (Ed.), Det samfunnsskapte utenforskapet. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245058932. p. 71–84. doi: https:/fagbokforlaget.no/produkt/9788245058932-det-samfunnsskapte-utenforskap. Full text in Research Archive
• Magnussen, May-Linda; Haaland, Hanne; Steen-Johnsen, Tale; Trysnes, Irene & Wallevik, Hege (2025). Professorpotensial? En nærstudie av en instituttleders «arbeid» for å bidra til førsteamanuensers professoropprykk ved Universitetet i Agder. Tidsskrift for kjønnsforskning. ISSN 0809-6341. 49(2), p. 55–68. doi: 10.18261/tfk.49.2.2. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  I denne artikkelen gjør vi en nærstudie av en intervjusekvens med en instituttleder ved Universitetet i Agder. Vi utforsker hvordan hen blir oppmerksom på og vurderer førsteamanuenser hen mener har professorpotensial, og støtter opp under deres professorkvalifisering. Vi bringer dette «arbeidet» i dialog med andre data fra forskningen hen deltar i, og i dialog med andres forskning. Det gjør vi for å sannsynliggjøre at det nevnte arbeidet er preget av den intervjuede instituttlederens eget ståsted, men også av institusjonelle forhold – deriblant kjønnede forståelser og praksiser. Vi har brukt institusjonell etnografi i datautviklingen og analysen vår.

• Steen-Johnsen, Tale & Skreland, Lisbeth Ljosdal (2025). Neuroscience and emotional labour of teachers in a Norwegian kindergarten: filling the ‘holes’ in children’s brains. Critical Studies in Education. ISSN 1750-8487. doi: 10.1080/17508487.2025.2457324. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article uses the theoretical lens of emotional labour to show how the trauma-informed care (TIC) approach has become a dominant discourse which influences ways of reasoning and interacting in a Norwegian kindergarten. The TIC approach is based on insights from attachment theory and neuroscience and provides guidelines for how potentially traumatised children should be cared for while ensuring their safety, thereby enabling them to connect with others and regulate their emotions. By using interview data developed from interviews with kindergarten teachers, we demonstrate how a focus on trauma and its potential impact on children’s brains compels kindergarten teachers to perform significant emotional labour to accommodate the principles of what can be described as the ‘feeling rules’ of TIC. We illustrate how the underpinnings of TIC, which aims to prevent children from incurring future harm, coincide with the professional values of kindergarten teachers. We suggest that this might motivate them to perform the emotional labour required by TIC. The concept of emotional labour enables us to identify changes in the institutional values of kindergartensin this case, more specifically how a neuroscientific approach takes precedence over established pedagogical principles for interacting with children.

• Kiwelu, Abigail & Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2025). Ubuntu. A resource for help groups for older people living with HIV in Korogwe District, Tanzania. Journal of Comparative Social Work. 20(1), p. 192–216. doi: 10.31265/jcsw.v20i1.704. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Ubuntu is an indigenous African philosophy that promotes collectivism, solidarity and mutual interdependence as being vital for the majority welfare. In this paper, it is used to discuss the findings from a qualitative study of how older people living with HIV (OPLHIV) in Korogwe, Tanzania use help groups for informal social support, to battle their daily challenges as a result of HIV and ageing in a rural context. Interviews with 13 OPLHIV showed that there are voluntarily formed groups and arranged groups. We find that voluntarily organised groups seem to build on, and benefit from Ubuntu values. The study further showed that Ubuntu values in group organisation are currently challenged by donor dependency, heterogeneity and poverty in local communities. Social work practice is recommended to acknowledge the strength of Ubuntu to support already existing initiatives in the field, but also to recognise the factors that challenge it.

• Magnussen, May-Linda; Haaland, Hanne; Steen-Johnsen, Tale; Trysnes, Irene & Wallevik, Hege (2024). Fleksibilitet og friksjon: Forskningssamarbeid, kjønn og styring i den globale kunnskapsøkonomien. Tidsskrift for kjønnsforskning. ISSN 0809-6341. 48(4), p. 248–264. doi: 10.18261/tfk.48.4.6. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  I overordnede styringstekster som preger vår arbeidshverdag, blir akademikere fremstilt som hjerner, og idealakademikeren blir fremstilt som hjernekraft som glir friksjonsfritt rundt i det Susan Wright kaller en internasjonal kunnskapsøkonomi, og kobler seg på «sterke», «fremragende» fagmiljøer. I denne artikkelen utforsker vi forskningssamarbeidets gjøren ved hjelp av institusjonell etnografi og kvalitative intervjuer med oss forfattere og ni andre førsteamanuenser ved Fakultet for samfunnsvitenskap ved Universitetet i Agder. Vi legger aller mest vekt på å få frem våre vurderinger av hvorfor vi har inngått og inngår i forskningssamarbeid. Analysen vår viser hvordan forståelsen av idealakademikeren som internasjonal på bestemte måter preger vurderingene og valgene vi gjør og har gjort. Den synliggjør imidlertid aller mest valg og vurderinger som skyggelegges og potensielt fordreies av nevnte idealer – og som blant annet ser ut til å ha med kjønn å gjøre. Slik synliggjøring kan bidra til økt bevissthet og diskusjon om etablerte forståelser og idealer i akademia og til økt verdsetting av og rom for mangfold i akademisk virke. Dette mangfoldet faller ofte i skyggen av tallmessig kjønnsbalanse eller mangfold blant ansatte langs andre anerkjente sosiologiske kategorier, og er truet.

• Steen-Johnsen, Tale; Magnussen, May-Linda & Trysnes, Irene (2024). Emotional Labour in the Neoliberal University: The Standpoint of Female Academics in Norway with Experience of Sick Leave. NORA - Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research. ISSN 0803-8740. p. 1–13. doi: 10.1080/08038740.2024.2419441. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this article, we show how female academics who have been on sick leave hide feelings of exhaustion, fear, and a lack of control and change these feelings into expressions of control and engagement when interacting with students and colleagues. We contend that these emotional efforts are a response to the emotional culture of the university in which vocation and commitment to teaching and research have become entangled with neoliberal management trends. Within this context, academic performance and student satisfaction are measured and evaluated. We use Hochschild’s theory of emotional labour and the literature on the emotional culture of universities under neoliberal management to illuminate how emotional labour takes place in neoliberal academia and argue that this type of work is gendered. Our findings contribute to the growing body of research on gendered emotional labour in the neoliberal academy and add to our understanding of how this form of management affects the emotional lives of those working there.

• Steen-Johnsen, Tale & Skreland, Lisbeth Ljosdal (2023). Epistemic injustice in a parenting support programme for refugees in Norway. Families, Relationships and Societies. ISSN 2046-7435. 12(4), p. 448–463. doi: 10.1332/204674321X16687031331255. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this article, we discuss epistemic injustice in the International Child Development Programme (ICDP), a universalised parenting support programme in Norway that is mandatory for all newly arrived refugees. We show that despite the programme’s good intentions, it constitutes a form of epistemic injustice because it enforces a state-endorsed epistemology that proffers the ‘right’  way of parenting. Using data collected during ICDP training for a group of newly arrived refugee parents from Syria, we explore how the ideals embedded in the programme influence the interactions and epistemic exchanges between participants and mentors. This study contributes to discussions on parenting support for marginalised groups by revealing the functioning of epistemic injustice as new inhabitants in a welfare state are targeted by a social support programme aimed at enhancing their parenting skills.

• Magnussen, May-Linda; Steen-Johnsen, Tale & Synnes, Katrine Mayora (2023). Følelsesstyrt? Om styringsrelasjoner, følelser og tilgang til ulike ståsteder. In Magnussen, May-Linda & Nilsen, Ann Christin Eklund (Ed.), Erfaringer med institusjonell etnografi. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISSN 9788202714840. p. 227–247. doi: 10.23865/noasp.195.ch11. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale & Steen-Johnsen, Kari (2023). "Strangers in Their Own Land" - en sosiologisk roadtrip gir nye forståelser av sammenhengen mellom politikk og følelser. In Hestholm, Roger Ivan & Skarpenes, Ove (Ed.), Sosiologisk analyse. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245045932. p. 35–52. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale & Vik, Ingrid (2022). Har vi for stor tro på religiøse lederes mulighet til å bygge fred? Kirke og kultur. ISSN 0023-186X. 127(2), p. 113–132. doi: 10.18261/kok.127.2.3. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Mange av verdens voldelige konflikter har religiøse dimensjoner. Religiøse toppledere går ofte inn i disse konfliktsituasjonene for å forsøke å redusere volden mellom religiøse grupper, for å forebygge nye voldsutbrudd og for å støtte pågående fredsprosesser.1 Men har slike prosjekter god nok effekt? Skaper de fred?

• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2021). A Social Capital Perspective on the Peace Work of Religious Women. Journal of Ecumenical Studies. ISSN 0022-0558. 56(1), p. 55–75. doi: 10.1353/ECU.2021.0006. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale; Dulieu, Nicole & Nilsen, Ann Christin Eklund (2021). Mothering Practices in Cambodia: Making Sense of Physical Disciplining. Journal of Comparative Social Work. 16(1), p. 38–60. doi: 10.31265/jcsw.v16i1.368. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The physical disciplining of children is widespread globally. To work towards ending physical disciplining, we need to understand this practice’s local and contextual justifications. In this article, we explore Cambodian mothers’ rationales for the physical disciplining of their children, as we seek to address two questions: 1) How do Cambodian mothers perceive physical discipline? and 2) How do they negotiate and justify physical disciplining practices? Based on 10 group interviews with mothers of small children and in different communities in Cambodia, we found that physical disciplining is a common practice that is used to correct behaviours that are considered unhelpful, impolite, or disrespectful. There are, however, ambivalent attitudes towards this. This suggests that physical discipline is not a static practice but is rather one that is constantly negotiated. We argue that Barbara Rogoff’s concept of cultural scripts for parenting is well suited for making sense of how physical discipline is justified amongst Cambodian mothers.

• Rapisarda, Daniela Lucia; Steen-Johnsen, Tale & Urstad, Sivert Skålvoll (2021). Lived religion and nonreligion among humanitarians in South Sudan. Nordic Journal of Religion and Society. ISSN 0809-7291. 34(1), p. 17–28. doi: 10.18261/ISSN.1890-7008-2021-01-02. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale & Skreland, Lisbeth Ljosdal (2021). The politics of emotion in a parenting support programmes for refugees in Norway. Emotions and Society. ISSN 2631-6897. doi: 10.1332/263169021X16152829478746. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Enhancing social skills among citizens who are considered at risk is one of the ways in which a welfare state handles marginalised groups (Prieur et al, 2020). Universalised programmes represent a common way of strengthening the social capabilities of groups deemed in need of such skills (for example, Pettersvold and Østrem, 2019). In this article, we show that emotions perform a political role in such programmes. We proffer our arguments on the basis of data from five training sessions in the International Child Development Programme (ICDP) in a mid-sized Norwegian municipality. Mentors who are teaching the ICDP course use emotions to signal the superiority of the ICDP as a parenting ideal in the Norwegian welfare context. Positive other-emotions are used to signal equality and to welcome the refugees to take part in the ICDP. The mentors also control the balance of emotional energy and display sympathy. The emotions displayed by mentors underline the ICDP values as superior. Our analysis draws on the theoretical perspectives of emotions as place claims by Candace Clark (1990; 2007) and the cultural politics of emotion by Sarah Ahmed (2014). With the help of these perspectives, we suggest that the performativity of emotions during ICDP training aligns with broader political processes that imply that refugees are welcomed on the premise that they adapt to parenting practices that are acceptable in the new welfare-state context in which they are situated.

• Skreland, Lisbeth Ljosdal & Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2021). The lamination machine and laminating as thing-power in early childhood pedagogical practice. Children's Geographies. ISSN 1473-3285. doi: 10.1080/14733285.2021.1965089. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2020). The rhetoric of love in religious peacebuilding. Journal of Contemporary Religion. ISSN 1353-7903. 35(3), p. 433–448. doi: 10.1080/13537903.2020.1810972. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Religious leaders involved in peacebuilding initiatives often refer to the religious value of love to encourage groups in conflict to live peacefully together. In this article, I suggest that references to love as a religious value might contribute to bridging social capital, meaning social bonds between groups who have experienced conflict. However, without simultaneously addressing questions of justice, which is often necessary in violent conflicts, creating social bonds through references to love constitutes a weak contribution to peace. The article uses the study of a religious peacebuilding project in Ethiopia as an example and illustrates how religious leaders failed to make a substantial contribution to peace by evoking love but avoiding questions of justice.

• Nilsen, Ann Christin Eklund & Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2019). The Early childhood care and development mission and the institutional circuit of evidence. Journal of Early Childhood Research. ISSN 1476-718X. doi: 10.1177/1476718X19860558. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2019). Methodological Challenges to the Study of Religious Peacebuilding. In Repstad, Pål Steinar (Eds.), Political Religion, Everyday Religion : Sociological Trends. Brill. ISSN 9789004397965. p. 84–103. doi: 10.1163/9789004397965_008. Full text in Research Archive

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• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2017). State and Politics in Religious Peacebuilding. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137593894. 199 p. Full text in Research Archive

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• Gjellestad, Marianne & Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2026). Women's Health and Emotional Labour_ Exploring the Connection. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Presentasjon om kvinnehelse og emosjonelt arbeid på konferanse i European Sociology Association (ESA)

• Nilsen, Ann Christin Eklund; Skarpenes, Ove; Neumann, Cecilie Elisabeth Basberg; Magnussen, May-Linda & Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2025). (+) Er foreldrene problemet? Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Forebyggende tiltak som settes inn mot familier, kan bidra til at utenforskapet forsterkes.

• Steen-Johnsen, Tale & Steen-Johnsen, Kari (2023). En sosiologisk roadtrip gir innsikt i sammenhengen mellom følelser og politikk. sosiologen.no. Full text in Research Archive
• Engtrø, Randi; Dale, Trine Smiseth; Skreland, Lisbeth Ljosdal & Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2023). Hva henger på veggen? Barnehagens pauserom som inngang til å forstå personalets arbeidsfellesskap. Full text in Research Archive
• Thaule, Jimi & Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2021). Is shared knowledge the path to peace? Full text in Research Archive
• Synnes, Ronald Mayora & Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2021). Et land i dyp krise: Nå går politikerne i Venezuela tilbake til dialogbordet med Norges hjelp. Forskersonen.no. Full text in Research Archive
• Nilsen, Ann Christin Eklund; Steen-Johnsen, Tale; Magnussen, May-Linda; Kvamme, Ingunn & Skatvedt, Astrid Helene (2020). Må vi virkelig snakke om dette fremdeles? Full text in Research Archive
• Nilsen, Ann Christin Eklund; Steen-Johnsen, Tale; Magnussen, May-Linda & Skarpenes, Ove (2020). (Smitte)skammens funksjoner. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale; Nilsen, Ann Christin Eklund & Dulieu, Nicole (2017). Violence and Violence in Cambodian Parenting Practices. Full text in Research Archive
• Nilsen, Ann Christin Eklund & Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2016). The ECCD «mission» and the institutional circuit of good intentions. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale & Skreland, Lisbeth Ljosdal (2015). Negotiating norms and values in conflict situations in kindergartens. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2014). The Role of Women in Religious or Faith-based Peacebuilding. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2014). Religion og fredsbygging. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2013). Do no Harm-Aid in Conflict contexts. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2013). Religion og fredsbygging. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2013). Kampen om fortiden. Konflikt og historie i Etiopia. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2013). Religion and Late Modernity in Africa: Revival, Aid and Conflict. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2013). Kan du redde verden med en mastergrad? Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2013). Kan du redde verden med en Bachelorgrad? Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2012). Religiøse ledere i fredsarbeid-aktører med begrensede muligheter? In Vik, Ingrid; Hegertun, Nikolai & Kleppa, Håvard (Ed.), Innblikk i forholdet mellom religion og utvikling : en rapport for prosjektet religion og utvikling 2011-2012. Oslosenteret for fred og menneskerettigheter og Utenriksdepartementet. ISSN 9788271778873. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2012). Intervju på NRK distriktsnyheter om deltragelse i forsker grand prix. [TV]. Grimstad. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2012). Intervju på NRK Sørlandssendingen om deltagelse i forsker grand prix. [Radio]. Kristiansand. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2012). Religion og konflikt. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2012). Walk the Walk or Talk the Talk. Religious Leaders in Peacebuilding. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2012). Religion and Peacebuildning. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2012). Blir verden bedere på vårt vaktskifte. Tilsvar til Jan Egeland. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2012). Kan religiøse ledere bidra til fred-et kritisk blikk på religiøse ledere i fredsarbeid. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2012). Religiøse ledere har ofte fått for mye på sine skuldre. [Journal]. Kristiansand. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2011). Book note on "Hertog, Katrien (2010) The Complex Reality of Religious Peacebuilding: Conceptual Contributions and Critical Analysis. Plymouth: Lexington. 284 pp.". Journal of Peace Research. ISSN 0022-3433. 48(4), p. 557–565. doi: 10.1177/0022343311409849. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2011). The Complex Reality of Religious Peacebuilding: Conceptual Contributions and Critical Analysis. Journal of Peace Research. ISSN 0022-3433. 48(4), p. 560–560. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2011). The Role of Religious Leaders in Peacebuilding. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2011). The Imam and the Pastor-perspectives on their contribuition to peace. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2011). The Role of Religion in Conflict and Peace Building. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2011). Religion og Fredsbygging. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2011). NCAs APPROACH TO PEACEBUILDINGFrom principles to practice. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2011). Inter-Faith Peacebuilding in Ethiopia. Understanding Conditions for Influence. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2011). The role of Religion in Peace Building. The Importance of Context Analysis. Full text in Research Archive
• Imenes, Anne Gerd; Aasland, Dag Gjerløw; Bjørnestøl, Katharina Reionn; Grelland, Hans Herlof & Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2023). Bærekraftanalyse for Metochi. Universitetet i Agder. Full text in Research Archive
• Steen-Johnsen, Tale (2014). Oil on Troubled Waters. Religious Peacebuilding in Ethiopia. Universitetet i Agder. ISSN 9788271177812. Full text in Research Archive

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