How Do Child Welfare Workers Understand and Practice Child Participation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6417835 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Berit Skauge (0000-0002-0376-8782, Department of Social Work Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and Trondheim Municipality Trondheim Norway), Anita Skårstad Storhaug (0000-0002-2192-5761, Department of Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Trondheim Norway) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 308-317 |
| Publication date | 2024-03-21 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Child & Family Social Work (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1356-7500 • E-ISSN: 1365-2206 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/cfs.13167 |
| OpenAlex | W4393077371 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 37 |
Child participation is strongly emphasized as a value and a right in the Norwegian child welfare (CW) system. Based on focus group interviews with 24 CW employees, we explore how CW workers understand and practice child participation in various work phases: assessment; supportive measures in the home; out‐of‐home placements. Two main forms of participation were identified: indirect participation, where the child is observed or communicates with other professionals, and direct participation, where the child speaks to a CW worker. The topics of conversations with children are divided into two categories: general topics regarding the child's everyday life and CW‐related topics, associated with the case and the child's situation. CW workers' understandings of children's participation provide the basis for the form and content of participation offered and lead to the child being assigned various positions. This ranges from direct participation where the child is positioned as the primary participant in direct interaction about their situation to indirect participation where the child is represented or observed by adults. We argue for a more nuanced understanding of what child participation implies and increased awareness of how different forms and contexts affect opportunities for children's participation
Developmental psychology · Economic growth · Economics · Political science · Sociology · Welfare · Welfare system · Children's Rights and Participation · Early Childhood Education and Development · Psychology · Social Work Education and Practice · Social Work
"I Want to Participate"
Practitioners' Perspectives on Engaging Adolescents in Collaborative Documentation in Municipal Child and Family Support Services
Children’s experience of a new approach to family safeguarding in Oxfordshire Children’s social care services
Conceptions of participation in child protection care assessments—A discourse analysis of independent experts accounts
Listening to the child
Child Protection Systems
Obstacles for child participation in care and protection cases—why Norwegian social workers find it difficult
Children's Participation in Child-protection Processes as Experienced by Foster Children and Social Workers
The What, Why and How of Child Participation—A Review of the Conceptualization of “Child Participation” in Child Welfare
Participation in the Child Protection Assessment
Do the Child Welfare and Protection Services Involve Children in Cases With Parental Mental Health Problems? A Norwegian Case-File Study
Children's and young people's participation within child welfare and child protection services
A systematic review of children’s participation in child protection decision‐making
A Handbook of Children and Young People’s Participation
Trust and Power Dynamics in Children's Lived Citizenship and Participation
Speaking bodies – silenced voices
Risk, Vulnerability and Complexity
Challenges of participation in child welfare
A child’s right to participate
You've got to trust her and she's got to trust you’
Child welfare workers' perceptions of children's participation
Service user participation in diverse child protection contexts
Participation in decision-making in out-of-home care in Australia
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Which participation practices can be found in child welfare service records
Reconceptualising Children's Agency as Continuum and Interdependence
Positioning
Containment
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 5 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |