Child Welfare Activities Targeting Single Mothers on Social Assistance: A Study of Child Welfare Interventions and Case Managers' Referrals in a Swedish Sample

Stranz, Hugo; Wiklund, Stefan

doi:10.1093/bjsw/bct193

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…In line with previous evidence, our findings indicate bias in the referral system where referral sources are more likely to refer children from single‐parent families, teenage parent families, poor families and immigrant families compared with other children with similar problems from other families (Gilbert, Kemp, et al, 2009; Östberg, 2010; Stranz & Wiklund, 2015; Svensson et al, 2015). A contribution of this study is that such an increased likelihood due to family factors is independent of the severity of exposure.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

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How do child welfare referrals in Sweden match children's self‐reporting of severe exposure?

Kalin

Persdotter

Ahlgren

et al. 2021

Child & Family Social Work

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Child welfare services (CWS) rely on referrals from professionals and civilians to address maltreatment and behavioural problems. To our knowledge, no prior study explored to what extent children who self‐reported severe exposure to maltreatment or behavioural problems are referred to the CWS. This study is based on two data sets on a Swedish community sample of 1884 children: (i) self‐reports in four waves during adolescence, including indicators of severe exposure, and (ii) a retrospective systematic review of all children's CWS records at age 18. According to self‐reports, 445 matched one or more indicators of severe exposure. In total, 389 children of the total sample were referred, but only 169 of the self‐reported severely exposed. Severely exposed children were more likely to be referred than other children, adjusting for several background factors. Children who did not experience severe exposure but lived in single‐parent families, teenage parent families, poor families or immigrant families were more likely to be referred to CWS than other children. The findings are discussed from a children's rights perspective and inequity in relation to social work practice. In conclusion, although the referral rates are high, many children who are severely exposed to child maltreatment and behavioural problems remain undetected.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Children of single mothers on social assistance were more often referred by their social assistance officers if the mothers were non‐native, but the CWS more often investigated children of native mothers (Stranz & Wiklund, 2015). Child referrals seem to be related to inequalities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do child welfare referrals in Sweden match children's self‐reporting of severe exposure?

Kalin

Persdotter

Ahlgren

et al. 2021

Child & Family Social Work

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Some groups are more frequently referred, e.g. children living in (1) single-parent households, or (2) with poor parents, or (3) or receiving monthly social assistance, or (4) with a foreign background (Bywaters et al, 2020;Kvist et al, 2017;Putnam-Hornstein et al, 2013;Sidebotham & Heron, 2006;Stranz & Wiklund, 2015;Svensson et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-rated child maltreatment, behavioural problems, and contacts with welfare and police authorities – longitudinal community data

Ahlgren

Kalin

Gerdner

2021

European Journal of Social Work

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This study examines how children report abuse, neglect and behavioural problems and what authorities they claim to have had contact with that are legally mandated to report to the Child Welfare Services, e.g. health services and police. It draws data from a longitudinal research programme, LoRDIA, in which four data collections followed adolescents' development from 12 to 15 years (n = 1884). A total of 61 indicators of self-reported child abuse, neglect and behavioural problems were constructed to identify children with severe exposure so that each indicator would have prompted referral. The main finding is that 445 (25.3%) of the study population reported severe exposure of this magnitude. Among these self-reported severely exposed children (SSE), boys reported higher rates of child neglect and of overall behavioural problems, specifically criminal and other socially destructive behaviour. Poverty and living in single-parent households significantly increase the risk of abuse, neglect, and behavioural problems. Increased risk of neglect and criminal behaviour were found for children studying Swedish as second language. The SSE children more than other children report contact with all authorities with mandatory reporting. Odds ratios of contact were higher in the case of behavioural problems compared to the odds ratios for abuse and neglect. ABSTRAKT Denna studie undersöker hur barn rapporterar övergrepp, försummelse och beteendeproblem samt vilka verksamheter de uppger att de har haft kontakt med, vilka enligt lag är skyldiga att anmäla sin oro till den sociala barnavården, t.ex. hälso-och sjukvård samt polis. Studien är baserad på ett longitudinellt forskningsprogram, LoRDIA, som genom fyra datainsamlingar följde ungdomars utveckling från 12 till 15 års ålder (n = 1884). Totalt 61 indikatorer för barns självrapporterade övergrepp, försummelse samt utsatthet genom beteendeproblem konstruerades för att identifiera barn med allvarlig utsatthet i den grad att varje indikator skulle ha lett till en orosanmälan. Det huvudsakliga

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“…This research has not taken into account the role of housing, but does point at the difficulties that can arise within a system that primarily focuses on the correction of individual deficiencies without taking structural constraints into account. Making reference to Swift's (1995) critical analysis of the Canadian child welfare system, Stranz and Wiklund (2015) have also discussed the potential risk that Swedish social services are contributing to 'the manufacturing of bad mothers' through poor working practices.…”

Section: Employment and 'Worthiness'mentioning

confidence: 99%

A vicious circle of silent exclusion: Family homelessness and poverty in Sweden from a single mother perspective

Samzelius¹

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Within the confines of the receding Swedish welfare state, family homelessness and poverty are on the rise among one-parent families, in particular those headed by a single migrant mother. This development follows a trend that is noticeable across advanced welfare states, where female-headed households are facing an increased risk of being locked into vicious circles of low-paid work, inadequate income protection schemes and poor housing options. Contextualized against a wider global political-economic backdrop of rising inequalities and structural changes that take localized forms, this thesis investigates family homelessness and poverty in Sweden through what is referred to as a ‘singlemother perspective’. This is an approach where welfare policy and politicalinstitutional arrangements are analysed through the lens of everyday experiences and struggles conveyed by marginalized single mothers. By placing the ideas and experiences of single mothers at the centre of the analysis, the intention is to invoke a different epistemology concerning what type of knowledge is represented and recognised in public. Drawing on insights from critical social theory and feminist ethnographic research, the study uses an approach to the development of new poverty knowledge, found at the junction between lived experience, activism, empirical research and social theory. The thesis departs from the experiences of homelessness and poverty as articulated by the research participants rather than from official definitions and categories. The findings suggest that unwarranted pain and suffering are caused by insufficient incomes, inadequate housing options, and a failure of public authorities to recognise the degree to which policies in the areas of housing, social security, employment, migration and child welfare intersect in complex ways in the lives of disadvantaged single mothers. The narratives shared by the informants further put into question the image of Sweden as an inclusive ‘women- and child-friendly’ welfare state that protects vulnerable citizens from destitution. Instead, the study concludes that the misrecognition and misrepresentation of the living conditions and hardships facing vulnerable mothers and children, combined with a maldistribution of resources, contribute to a vicious circle of silent exclusion. Finally, the study suggests that although it is the women and children who bear the brunt of this crisis and who feel it the most, its causes and consequences infest the whole fabric of society. It also warrants a return to fundamental ethical questions with regard to how people in poverty are viewed and treated and with regard to the role of solidarity within the welfare state. In particular, it argues that there is an urgent need to re-consider the role of social work practice within the receding welfare state and to scrutinize the impact of conditional welfare on vulnerable clients. The thesis ends by proposing a framework for a ‘politics of the heart’ that encompasses the pursuit of social justice and an ethics of care that recognises that the empowerment of mothering and motherhood needs to be at the centre of policy and practice that engage with single mothers suffering from poverty and homelessness, as this also tends to be ‘in the best interest of the child’.

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Child Welfare Activities Targeting Single Mothers on Social Assistance: A Study of Child Welfare Interventions and Case Managers' Referrals in a Swedish Sample

Cited by 6 publications

References 10 publications

How do child welfare referrals in Sweden match children's self‐reporting of severe exposure?

How do child welfare referrals in Sweden match children's self‐reporting of severe exposure?

Self-rated child maltreatment, behavioural problems, and contacts with welfare and police authorities – longitudinal community data

A vicious circle of silent exclusion: Family homelessness and poverty in Sweden from a single mother perspective

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