Mikkel recently completed his industrial PhD research project at Dept. of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University and Save The Children, Denmark. In his PhD he investigated how novel digital self-help platforms could help prevent child sexual abuse. His research included both preventive aspects for the users of the platforms and the tensions and possibilities of the technology to inform and contest social and political challenges in secondary prevention in society.

In SHAPE, Mikkel will continue Michael Christensens previous work and conduct studies to further the theoretical and empirical understanding of the datafication of children and young adults in marginalized positions. The project’s aim is to follow the dataflow of these citizens that starts when social workers register a case. When the citizens become data, they emerge as a digital double. As this double flows in and out of different spheres and social or political systems, new data is continuously added and accumulated to decide the future of the children and young adults. Following this data journey can prepare both society and social workers to better understand the consequences of an increased datafication of citizens.

Read more about the 'Digital Citizenship' project.