Renee Thørnblad
Biographic Data
| ID | 233702 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Renee Thørnblad |
| GIVEN NAMES | Renee |
| FAMILY NAME | Thørnblad |
| SIGNATURE | THØRNBLAD R |
| AFFILIATIONS | UiT The Arctic University of Norway |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2561-7018 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 33 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Child welfare workers’ attitudes towards network and family kinship care in Norway
This study examines and compares Norwegian child welfare workers’ attitudes towards network and family kinship care, where children who are removed from their parents’ care are placed with someone in their social network or with relatives. Using data from a 2023 national survey, we assessed differences in attitudes and their implications for child welfare practices. While workers generally had positive attitudes towards both care types, they show…
Advantages and disadvantages of kinship foster care – Perspectives from child welfare workers in Norway
Mandatory Family Mediation Concerning the Youngest Children
Because of the significant increase in the number of families practicing post‐divorce shared residence, there has been an ongoing debate about whether this arrangement serves the best interests of the children, particularly the youngest ones. This article focuses on the encounters of family mediators working with separating parents who have children aged 0–3 years. We explore what mediators perceive as typical parenting scripts among parents with…
The Professionalisation of Foster Care in Norway
In Norway, as elsewhere, child welfare services have long prioritised placing children in foster homes over residential care when children cannot live with their parents, to ensure upbringing in family settings. Today, it is also stated in the law that child welfare services must always consider whether anyone in the child’s family or close network could be chosen as foster parents. The idea has been that kinship foster care can safeguard the chi…
Would I Do It Again? Examining Foster Parents' Willingness to Take on the Same Foster Care Placement Again
This study aims to identify factors that are important to improve the retention of foster parents, which is crucial to meet the increasing need for good and stable foster homes. Using data from a survey conducted by the Norwegian Foster Homes Association, we assessed which variables could predict the willingness of foster parents to take on the same foster care placement again. Multinomial logistic regressions were used to compare foster parents …
Mothers of young children
Vulnerability” and Its Unintended Consequences
“Vulnerability” is now a widely used term in different settings—from politics and academia to everyday life. In response, a growing body of research has emerged critiquing and challenging the use of the concept in the social sciences. In this paper, we explore the use of the term vulnerability in research on children in out-of-home care and discuss the possible negative consequences of this—for the people involved and for the knowledge produced. …
The proportion and utilisation of formal kinship and network care in Norway and Denmark
In the past decades, the implementation of regulations and legislation, \nwhich encourage the use of formal kinship and network care, has taken \nplace in many countries. Yet, the proportion seems to vary greatly, also \nbetween countries often regarded as similar. Denmark and Norway are \nexamples of this. In 2021, 33% of children in care lived in kinship and \nnetwork care compared to 13% in Denmark. The aim of this paper is to \nget a better u…
Adolescents' Negotiations of Loyalty and Fairness in Relation to Parents' Separation Process
Research on children's experiences of parental separation highlights equality and fairness between parents as one explanation for why children wish for symmetrical time‐sharing between parents. In this paper, we analyse adolescents' narratives and ask how adolescents negotiate closeness and distance with their parents, with a specific emphasis on issues of loyalty when adolescents' views diverge from symmetry and fairness. Narratives from qualita…
Adolescents' narratives about parents' separation processes and participation in mandatory family mediation
Children's participation in mandatory family mediation is an aspect of parents' separation process in Norway. In this article, we aim to explore what adolescents emphasise in their narratives about their participation. Eleven adolescents aged between 12 and 17 participated in qualitative semi-structured interviews. Drawing on Communication Privacy Management theory, the results show that, during participation in mandatory family mediation, adoles…
Contact with parents from childhood to adulthood – a longitudinal study of children in kinship care and non-kinship care
Previous research on parental contact for children in foster care shows that contact frequency is significantly related to parent’s gender and placement type. Yet very few studies have explored the impact of gender and type of placement on parental contact over time. Based on longitudinal quantitative data from kinship care and non-kinship care placements in Norway, we analyse contact between children and their birth parents at three timepoints: …
The child's place in the foster family
This longitudinal study examines the child's place in the foster family through the use of conventional names for familial figures (e.g., ‘mum/dad’) and through the foster parents' intention to adopt the child. Data were collected at two time points during childhood and adolescence, among children placed in kinship and non‐kinship foster care in Norway. Children placed at a younger age and children in non‐kinship foster care were more likely to c…
Placement stability and satisfaction with foster home as predictors of life satisfaction for young adults raised in foster care
This study examines how history of care, on one hand, and social support, on the other hand, predict satisfaction with life after leaving care by focusing on a sample of young adults raised in foster care in Norway. When aged between 19 and 29, youths answered questionnaires that mapped their past history of care, living conditions, social relationships and life satisfaction. Results show that the 70 respondents had experienced a relatively stabl…
Children sharing Preferences on Contact and Residence Arrangements in Child-inclusive Family Mediation in Norway
Mediation is mandatory for all separating and divorcing parents in Norway with children under 16 years. The participation of children is voluntary. Living arrangement preferences presented by children attending child-inclusive family mediation in Norway (n = 346, aged 4–18 years) have been examined. 47.1 per cent of children gave a living arrangement preference, and older children were more likely to express a preference for living primarily with…
Kinship care or upbringing by relatives? The need for ‘new’ understandings in research
This article addresses knowledge production on formal kinship foster care. In spite of growing interest in this phenomenon, little attention has been paid to how kinship care should be understood in research – as a service under child protective services or as upbringing by relatives. Each of these understandings leads to different research questions and creates guidelines for what falls into or outwith the focus of research. In kinship care rese…
Family group conferences
Models and methods within social work and child protection services are disseminated across cultural and national borders. The family group conference (FGC), with its origins in traditional Maori culture, is one example of this. The application of this model presupposes an ‘extended family’. Based on sociological theory, we highlight and problematise the explicit inattention to relevant cultural differences. The assumed existence of the extended …
Social functioning and mental health among children who have been living in kinship and non‐kinship foster care
Studies have shown relatively high rates of emotional and behavioural problems among children living in out‐of‐home care. This study reports the prevalence of social problems at an 8‐year follow‐up for a group of children/young adults. Predictors for prevalence and change in emotional and behavioural problems at the follow‐up are examined. A prospective cohort design with 233 children who had been living in foster care was used. Forty‐eight per c…
Placement disruption in long-term kinship and nonkinship foster care
The purpose of this study was to explore factors related to placement disruption in long-term kinship and nonkinship foster care in a Nordic country. The study included 136 children aged 4–13 years in kinship and nonkinship foster care in Norway in the year 2000, with updates for the year 2008. Placement and demographic information and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) were collected from foster parents and youths. Generalized linear mixed mode…
Placement stability and satisfaction with foster home as predictors of life satisfaction for young adults raised in foster care
This study examines how history of care, on one hand, and social support, on the other hand, predict satisfaction with life after leaving care by focusing on a sample of young adults raised in foster care in Norway. When aged between 19 and 29, youths answered questionnaires that mapped their past history of care, living conditions, social relationships and life satisfaction. Results show that the 70 respondents had experienced a relatively stabl…
Placement disruption in long-term kinship and nonkinship foster care
The purpose of this study was to explore factors related to placement disruption in long-term kinship and nonkinship foster care in a Nordic country. The study included 136 children aged 4–13 years in kinship and nonkinship foster care in Norway in the year 2000, with updates for the year 2008. Placement and demographic information and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) were collected from foster parents and youths. Generalized linear mixed mode…
Social functioning and mental health among children who have been living in kinship and non‐kinship foster care
Studies have shown relatively high rates of emotional and behavioural problems among children living in out‐of‐home care. This study reports the prevalence of social problems at an 8‐year follow‐up for a group of children/young adults. Predictors for prevalence and change in emotional and behavioural problems at the follow‐up are examined. A prospective cohort design with 233 children who had been living in foster care was used. Forty‐eight per c…
The proportion and utilisation of formal kinship and network care in Norway and Denmark
In the past decades, the implementation of regulations and legislation, \nwhich encourage the use of formal kinship and network care, has taken \nplace in many countries. Yet, the proportion seems to vary greatly, also \nbetween countries often regarded as similar. Denmark and Norway are \nexamples of this. In 2021, 33% of children in care lived in kinship and \nnetwork care compared to 13% in Denmark. The aim of this paper is to \nget a better u…
Adolescents' Negotiations of Loyalty and Fairness in Relation to Parents' Separation Process
Research on children's experiences of parental separation highlights equality and fairness between parents as one explanation for why children wish for symmetrical time‐sharing between parents. In this paper, we analyse adolescents' narratives and ask how adolescents negotiate closeness and distance with their parents, with a specific emphasis on issues of loyalty when adolescents' views diverge from symmetry and fairness. Narratives from qualita…
Adolescents' narratives about parents' separation processes and participation in mandatory family mediation
Children's participation in mandatory family mediation is an aspect of parents' separation process in Norway. In this article, we aim to explore what adolescents emphasise in their narratives about their participation. Eleven adolescents aged between 12 and 17 participated in qualitative semi-structured interviews. Drawing on Communication Privacy Management theory, the results show that, during participation in mandatory family mediation, adoles…
Contact with parents from childhood to adulthood – a longitudinal study of children in kinship care and non-kinship care
Previous research on parental contact for children in foster care shows that contact frequency is significantly related to parent’s gender and placement type. Yet very few studies have explored the impact of gender and type of placement on parental contact over time. Based on longitudinal quantitative data from kinship care and non-kinship care placements in Norway, we analyse contact between children and their birth parents at three timepoints: …
Children sharing Preferences on Contact and Residence Arrangements in Child-inclusive Family Mediation in Norway
Mediation is mandatory for all separating and divorcing parents in Norway with children under 16 years. The participation of children is voluntary. Living arrangement preferences presented by children attending child-inclusive family mediation in Norway (n = 346, aged 4–18 years) have been examined. 47.1 per cent of children gave a living arrangement preference, and older children were more likely to express a preference for living primarily with…
Kinship care or upbringing by relatives? The need for ‘new’ understandings in research
This article addresses knowledge production on formal kinship foster care. In spite of growing interest in this phenomenon, little attention has been paid to how kinship care should be understood in research – as a service under child protective services or as upbringing by relatives. Each of these understandings leads to different research questions and creates guidelines for what falls into or outwith the focus of research. In kinship care rese…
Would I Do It Again? Examining Foster Parents' Willingness to Take on the Same Foster Care Placement Again
This study aims to identify factors that are important to improve the retention of foster parents, which is crucial to meet the increasing need for good and stable foster homes. Using data from a survey conducted by the Norwegian Foster Homes Association, we assessed which variables could predict the willingness of foster parents to take on the same foster care placement again. Multinomial logistic regressions were used to compare foster parents …
Vulnerability” and Its Unintended Consequences
“Vulnerability” is now a widely used term in different settings—from politics and academia to everyday life. In response, a growing body of research has emerged critiquing and challenging the use of the concept in the social sciences. In this paper, we explore the use of the term vulnerability in research on children in out-of-home care and discuss the possible negative consequences of this—for the people involved and for the knowledge produced. …
The child's place in the foster family
This longitudinal study examines the child's place in the foster family through the use of conventional names for familial figures (e.g., ‘mum/dad’) and through the foster parents' intention to adopt the child. Data were collected at two time points during childhood and adolescence, among children placed in kinship and non‐kinship foster care in Norway. Children placed at a younger age and children in non‐kinship foster care were more likely to c…
Family group conferences
Models and methods within social work and child protection services are disseminated across cultural and national borders. The family group conference (FGC), with its origins in traditional Maori culture, is one example of this. The application of this model presupposes an ‘extended family’. Based on sociological theory, we highlight and problematise the explicit inattention to relevant cultural differences. The assumed existence of the extended …
Placement disruption in long-term kinship and nonkinship foster care
The purpose of this study was to explore factors related to placement disruption in long-term kinship and nonkinship foster care in a Nordic country. The study included 136 children aged 4–13 years in kinship and nonkinship foster care in Norway in the year 2000, with updates for the year 2008. Placement and demographic information and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) were collected from foster parents and youths. Generalized linear mixed mode…
Social functioning and mental health among children who have been living in kinship and non‐kinship foster care
Studies have shown relatively high rates of emotional and behavioural problems among children living in out‐of‐home care. This study reports the prevalence of social problems at an 8‐year follow‐up for a group of children/young adults. Predictors for prevalence and change in emotional and behavioural problems at the follow‐up are examined. A prospective cohort design with 233 children who had been living in foster care was used. Forty‐eight per c…
Family group conferences
Models and methods within social work and child protection services are disseminated across cultural and national borders. The family group conference (FGC), with its origins in traditional Maori culture, is one example of this. The application of this model presupposes an ‘extended family’. Based on sociological theory, we highlight and problematise the explicit inattention to relevant cultural differences. The assumed existence of the extended …
Kinship care or upbringing by relatives? The need for ‘new’ understandings in research
This article addresses knowledge production on formal kinship foster care. In spite of growing interest in this phenomenon, little attention has been paid to how kinship care should be understood in research – as a service under child protective services or as upbringing by relatives. Each of these understandings leads to different research questions and creates guidelines for what falls into or outwith the focus of research. In kinship care rese…
Placement stability and satisfaction with foster home as predictors of life satisfaction for young adults raised in foster care
This study examines how history of care, on one hand, and social support, on the other hand, predict satisfaction with life after leaving care by focusing on a sample of young adults raised in foster care in Norway. When aged between 19 and 29, youths answered questionnaires that mapped their past history of care, living conditions, social relationships and life satisfaction. Results show that the 70 respondents had experienced a relatively stabl…
Children sharing Preferences on Contact and Residence Arrangements in Child-inclusive Family Mediation in Norway
Mediation is mandatory for all separating and divorcing parents in Norway with children under 16 years. The participation of children is voluntary. Living arrangement preferences presented by children attending child-inclusive family mediation in Norway (n = 346, aged 4–18 years) have been examined. 47.1 per cent of children gave a living arrangement preference, and older children were more likely to express a preference for living primarily with…
Contact with parents from childhood to adulthood – a longitudinal study of children in kinship care and non-kinship care
Previous research on parental contact for children in foster care shows that contact frequency is significantly related to parent’s gender and placement type. Yet very few studies have explored the impact of gender and type of placement on parental contact over time. Based on longitudinal quantitative data from kinship care and non-kinship care placements in Norway, we analyse contact between children and their birth parents at three timepoints: …
The child's place in the foster family
This longitudinal study examines the child's place in the foster family through the use of conventional names for familial figures (e.g., ‘mum/dad’) and through the foster parents' intention to adopt the child. Data were collected at two time points during childhood and adolescence, among children placed in kinship and non‐kinship foster care in Norway. Children placed at a younger age and children in non‐kinship foster care were more likely to c…
Vulnerability” and Its Unintended Consequences
“Vulnerability” is now a widely used term in different settings—from politics and academia to everyday life. In response, a growing body of research has emerged critiquing and challenging the use of the concept in the social sciences. In this paper, we explore the use of the term vulnerability in research on children in out-of-home care and discuss the possible negative consequences of this—for the people involved and for the knowledge produced. …
The proportion and utilisation of formal kinship and network care in Norway and Denmark
In the past decades, the implementation of regulations and legislation, \nwhich encourage the use of formal kinship and network care, has taken \nplace in many countries. Yet, the proportion seems to vary greatly, also \nbetween countries often regarded as similar. Denmark and Norway are \nexamples of this. In 2021, 33% of children in care lived in kinship and \nnetwork care compared to 13% in Denmark. The aim of this paper is to \nget a better u…
Adolescents' Negotiations of Loyalty and Fairness in Relation to Parents' Separation Process
Research on children's experiences of parental separation highlights equality and fairness between parents as one explanation for why children wish for symmetrical time‐sharing between parents. In this paper, we analyse adolescents' narratives and ask how adolescents negotiate closeness and distance with their parents, with a specific emphasis on issues of loyalty when adolescents' views diverge from symmetry and fairness. Narratives from qualita…
Adolescents' narratives about parents' separation processes and participation in mandatory family mediation
Children's participation in mandatory family mediation is an aspect of parents' separation process in Norway. In this article, we aim to explore what adolescents emphasise in their narratives about their participation. Eleven adolescents aged between 12 and 17 participated in qualitative semi-structured interviews. Drawing on Communication Privacy Management theory, the results show that, during participation in mandatory family mediation, adoles…
The Professionalisation of Foster Care in Norway
In Norway, as elsewhere, child welfare services have long prioritised placing children in foster homes over residential care when children cannot live with their parents, to ensure upbringing in family settings. Today, it is also stated in the law that child welfare services must always consider whether anyone in the child’s family or close network could be chosen as foster parents. The idea has been that kinship foster care can safeguard the chi…
Would I Do It Again? Examining Foster Parents' Willingness to Take on the Same Foster Care Placement Again
This study aims to identify factors that are important to improve the retention of foster parents, which is crucial to meet the increasing need for good and stable foster homes. Using data from a survey conducted by the Norwegian Foster Homes Association, we assessed which variables could predict the willingness of foster parents to take on the same foster care placement again. Multinomial logistic regressions were used to compare foster parents …
Mothers of young children
Child welfare workers’ attitudes towards network and family kinship care in Norway
This study examines and compares Norwegian child welfare workers’ attitudes towards network and family kinship care, where children who are removed from their parents’ care are placed with someone in their social network or with relatives. Using data from a 2023 national survey, we assessed differences in attitudes and their implications for child welfare practices. While workers generally had positive attitudes towards both care types, they show…
Advantages and disadvantages of kinship foster care – Perspectives from child welfare workers in Norway
Mandatory Family Mediation Concerning the Youngest Children
Because of the significant increase in the number of families practicing post‐divorce shared residence, there has been an ongoing debate about whether this arrangement serves the best interests of the children, particularly the youngest ones. This article focuses on the encounters of family mediators working with separating parents who have children aged 0–3 years. We explore what mediators perceive as typical parenting scripts among parents with…
Child Welfare and Adoption (12 works) · Psychology (12 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Foster care (9 works) · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving (8 works) · Kinship (8 works) · Kinship care (8 works) · Political science (8 works) · Developmental psychology (6 works) · Family Dynamics and Relationships (6 works)