Child welfare workers’ attitudes towards network and family kinship care in Norway
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21498518 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Géraldine Mabille (0000-0002-6210-5671, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, corresponding author), Jeanette Skoglund (0000-0002-7755-3223, UiT The Arctic University of Norway), Renee Thørnblad (0000-0003-2561-7018, UiT The Arctic University of Norway), Susan Kaiser (0000-0002-2081-7734, UiT The Arctic University of Norway), Sabine Kaiser (Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-14 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-25 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Social Work Practice (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0265-0533 • E-ISSN: 1465-3885 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02650533.2026.2689986 |
| OpenAlex | W7165851905 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 29 |
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 showed more favourable attitudes towards network care (Cohen’s ds from .17 to .90). The questions related to cooperation with foster parents and the follow-up of foster homes revealed the largest differences between family and network care. These findings emphasise the need to develop strategies addressing the unique challenges posed by each type of care. This approach would move away from treating kinship care as a homogeneous entity and instead recognise the specific needs of network care versus family kinship care
Foster care · Homogeneous · Kinship · Kinship care · Norwegian · Welfare · Child Abuse and Trauma · Child Welfare and Adoption · Children's Rights and Participation · Social Work
Calculating and reporting effect sizes to facilitate cumulative science
Mental health and quality of life among Norwegian child welfare service workers
Advantages and disadvantages of kinship foster care – Perspectives from child welfare workers in Norway
Breakdown of teenage placements in Swedish foster and residential care
Nonfamilial kinship carers—Who are they and what support do they need to nurture children
When Children Cannot Remain Home
Systematic Review of Kinship Care Effects on Safety, Permanency, and Well-Being Outcomes
Children in kinship care
Kinship family foster care
Family ties
Settling into a new home as a teenager
Associations between family resilience and health outcomes among kinship caregivers and their children
True ambivalence
Are children safer with kin? A comparison of maltreatment risk in out-of-home care
Placement stability in kinship and non-kin foster care
Factors influencing decision making about the placement of children in care
Convenient Yet Neglected
Associations between child protective services workers’ attitudes toward kinship foster care placement, sociodemographic characteristics, and job characteristics
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |