Based on observational data, individual interviews (N = 22) and focus groups (N = 8) with practitioners in Italy, Norway and Slovenia, this study applies a grounded theory approach in exploring ...frontline practitioners’ experiences of supporting families involved with child welfare services. It was anticipated that there would be significant differences between the countries regarding practitioners’ understandings of families’ needs and problems, and approaches to help. However, the analysis showed considerable transnational similarities. This study, therefore, offers a new perspective to the welfare regime literature in suggesting that there are important similarities to be recognised across child welfare typologies.
•The study compares children’s participation in child protection (CP) legislative and policy frameworks of Bulgaria, Ireland, Malta, Norway and Serbia.•The study is based on a comparative case study ...analysis.•The participation of children in child protection service is framed by a complex set of factors, with the necessary infrastructure in terms of legislation and policy and contextually framed resources, knowledge and awareness being central.•Facilitating the implementation of children’s participation in the context of child protection requires the necessary financial and human resources.•The exchange of good practices and experiences between countries with more developed CP systems and those who have a shorter history of CP could create innovation to find solutions for better participation of children.
This paper compares children’s participation in child protection (CP) legislative and policy frameworks and how this is then reflected in practice among five European countries namely Bulgaria, Ireland, Malta, Norway and Serbia. Literature suggests that whereas many countries have adapted their legislative and policy frameworks, there exists a gap between these frameworks and what happens in practice (Wilson et al., 2020; Jensen et al., 2020). This paper will address this gap by considering the contextual forces that facilitate the participation of children in formal CP services, where listening to their voices and involving them in decision-making processes is important. The authors draw on the Eurofamnet national reports (Abela and Dudova, 2021) to provide an overview of the history of child protection, and other important indicators such as poverty. A case study approach is adopted. The comparative analysis of the five countries suggests that whereas all five countries have adapted their legislation to achieve child participation and CP policies are increasingly becoming child-centered, there exists a gap between the legislative and policy frameworks and what is on offer in practice. The participation and protection of children is interdependent on a child protection service with the necessary infrastructure in terms of legislation and policy but also necessitates contextually framed resources, knowledge and awareness about the benefits of such a policy for the wellbeing of children and their families. The exchange of good practices, knowledge and experiences in terms of child participation between countries with more developed CP systems and those with a shorter history of CP practices could create long-term collaborations and innovation in the area for those countries who most need it. The influential role of international institutions is also an important driving force, especially for those countries who may not have a welfare regime context that is supportive of entering into a conversation with children when they most need protection and support.
This article investigates norms of parenting in the context of the Norwegian child welfare service (CWS). Research from both international and Norwegian contexts shows that current parenting ideals ...are built on middle-class values that are often taken for granted. However, there is limited knowledge about the interaction between the CWS and middle-class families. Through narrative positioning analysis, we explore how child welfare workers (CWWs) construct the identities of two middle-class families in contact with the service and how the CWWs' ideals about parenting are expressed through these stories. Both families are positioned as well-off, and the CWWs provide classed and gendered descriptions of the parents that coincide with dominant narratives of intensive mothering. As clients, the parents are constructed as active adaptive agents and active expert agents. The CWWs relationally construct themselves as a catalyst for change and as a support. The analysis provides insight into how the middle-class ideal is almost unnoticeably being solidified as a standard, and we metaphorically see the interaction between the parents and the CWS as 'status maintenance ceremonies'. We argue that a narrative positioning analytical framework can be further developed and used to increase reflection on social work practice and education.
Emergency placements in child welfare services have increased during the last 10 years in Norway. At the time of placement, some of these children have been in the child welfare system for several ...years. Based on qualitative interviews, our study explores Norwegian child welfare workers' perceptions of long‐term cases resulting in emergency placements. The participants reported that they felt they had intervened too late, as it took them too long to understand the severity of the situation. This occurred mainly due to three factors: (a) The work had mainly been based on the parents' premises; (b) having too much distance to the child, as they talked too little with the child, too late in the process; (c) an experience of lacking methodological skills needed and sufficient opportunities to conduct proper observations and assessments; (d) supportive measures were tried for too long, and these measures were not properly evaluated. Giving other professionals' assessments considerable weight in the decision‐making process, and the use of legal language rather than independent, professional assessments, can be seen as another way of distancing themselves from both the family and the decisions being made.
This article explores what the County Social Welfare Boards (CSWBs) emphasize in their decisions on appeals against emergency placements due to concerns of violence. A qualitative document analysis ...of 23 appeal cases focused on how the CSWBs assess the cause and context of the violence, parents' potential for change, and how children's statements were weighted in decisions. The results show a zero-tolerance attitude toward violence. Exceptions are found in cases where parents have an immigrant background, and where parents are described as resourceful. The child's subjective experience and emotions related to the violence are given due weight in assessments.
This article examines Norway’s child welfare service managers’ perceptions of infection control measures on service functionality. The longitudinal study entailed nine rounds of surveys (N = 153–214) ...with child welfare managers between April 2020 and September 2021, collected by the Norwegian Directorate for Children Youth and Family Affairs after the onset of the Norwegian lockdown of March 2020. The findings suggest links between the strictness of measures and ability of child welfare services to ensure appropriate service delivery. Lockdown caused significant difficulties for many municipalities, while milder measures had less impact. We discuss some implications for practice with children and families.
In this article, we shed light on the importance of addressing normative complexity when conducting life history research with marginalized respondents, who experience multiple needs and complex ...problems. We analyse 74 life history interviews with parents who are in contact with child welfare services in Norway, and who challenge what is considered an ‘ordinary’ life course. Data were collected from 2010 to 2012 in connection with the project The New Child Welfare Services. We perform a content analysis of a smaller selection of interviews followed by a visual analysis of the transcripts. Applying a class perspective, the ways in which parents’ life histories emerge in a narrative interview setting are explored. The article shows that although the aim of the life history interview is to empower respondents to construct their own life histories, this might be difficult to achieve in interview settings where the respondents are marginalized. Some of the respondents did not perceive life as flawless from beginning to end, as they encountered several obstacles and what they considered to be new beginnings. Another aim of the life history interview is the search for coherency; however, the respondents who experienced the most complex problems expressed difficulties in speaking coherently about their life histories. Based on our analysis, the article stresses awareness to the normative complexity in all phases of data collection when interviewing marginalized respondents who do not necessarily fit into the life history format within the narrative tradition, which was more common for middle-class respondents.
This article critically examines the socio-political responses of Sweden and Norway to the increasing of immigration and refugees in 2015/16. Based on a review of governmental and municipal ...authorities' responses to the increasing immigration to the two countries, the results show that the increasing of immigration and refugees in a time of neoliberal reorganisation in society creates new conceptual, ethical and practical challenges for the practices of social work in the two countries. It is argued that the neoliberal privatisation of the reception of newcomers deteriorates the possibilities of social work to play its effective role in promoting social justice and social cohesion. Social work as a global and human rights profession should move beyond national boundaries and care nationalism in order to realise solidary goals and the international commitments of social work and social workers.
By the end of the 20th century, social class appeared to be an old-fashioned and outdated concept. Serious doubts were expressed about the theoretical and empirical relevance of social class in ...understanding inequalities in contemporary society. However, experiences from completing research with children and families receiving support from child welfare services shows that applying a class perspective is useful. The purpose of our study was to explore the redistributive and cultural dimensions of social class in the context of child welfare. The data include survey interviews with 715 families in contact with the Norwegian child welfare services (CWS). We found that social class is important but with different effects compared with the industrial society. Our analysis highlighted the problems children and families involved with CWS face, associated with social inequalities based on class differences. We argue that social class is part of the social dynamic of late modern societies, and that this dynamic intertwines with the lives of families in CWS and the problem complexes they encounter in everyday life.
Abstract Sensibility to stigma in child welfare systems is important to prevent harmful acts against marginalised groups in society. This case analysis centres around one family in the child welfare ...service (CWS) that could be considered marginalised across several dimensions. The empirical material consists of three separate in-depth interviews with the child, their parents and their caseworker. We explore how the stigma attributed to the family was enhanced through the relationship with the CWS and the role stigmatisation played in the interactions between the family and the CWS. The analysis showed how the parents were constructed as ‘outsiders’, compared to the ideal; they lacked money, good looks, and character. Although the parents were somehow subjugated and the caseworker perceived them as submissive, they also resisted stigma in both open and subtle ways. However, this was not always sensed by the CWS. We discuss the importance of addressing stigma in all its forms and acknowledge that stigma is power, which is also intertwined with the broader policy. This is crucial knowledge to mitigate the role of the CWS in the stigma machine and in turn reduce structural bias within the CWS.
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