Questions of control in child protection decision making: Laypersons’ monitoring and governance in child protection committees in Sweden

Abstract

In Sweden, decision making in child protection is heavily dependent on laypersons appointed to municipal child protection committees (CPCs). These laypersons have the power to decide upon proposals coming from professionals. Members of the committees are appointed from among their political party's members. In the committee, they are supposed to act as judicious laypersons equipped with sound judgement. In this study, 31 committee meetings in three municipalities were followed using observational techniques and audio recordings. The appointed CPC members' decisionmaking processes and communicative strategies to influence social work practice were analysed.Findings: The results show differences between the CPCs, indicating localized decisionmaking cultures. The representatives worked (not as party politicians, but) as a team with the professionals as counterparts. Communication strategies, most frequently questions, were used to govern the social work practice, over and above the decision making. Questions served both to obtain the information needed and also to exert normative influence by setting up a normative grid for ways to pass the committee. Downloaded from Applications: This research shows that social work in Sweden has a long way to go until it is acknowledged full professional status. The study also suggests that improvements in the CPCs' decision making need to be based on a closer look at the laypersons' knowledge, values and common sense and how these aspects affect decision making.

Professionalised, hybrid, and layperson models in Nordic child protection - actors in decision-making in out of home placements

“…We conducted 12 interviews during the spring of 2016 with key informants from Norway, Finland, and Denmark (we drew on our previous research when it came to Swedish child protection (Forkby and Höjer 2011;Forkby, Höjer and Liljegren 2015;Hultman, Forkby, and Höjer 2017;Liljegren, Höjer, and Forkby 2014). The informants were all persons with great knowledge of their own country's policy development and/or the process and organisation for decision-making.…”

“…The reasons for keeping laypersons as formal decision-makers have been that they ensure that citizens get an insight into the decisions, that there is some democratic control of the administration, and that they can influence the decision-making with judicious common sense. Additionally, it has been argued that they in their double roles as laypersons (in decision-making in individual cases) and politicians (on political boards and in their parties) can get crucial knowledge of the life situation of vulnerable groups, which is something they can transform into political reforms to help develop the local welfare (Forkby, Höjer, and Liljegren 2015;SOU 2015:71).…”

Enhetschefers syn på kunskapsformers och ramfaktorers betydelse för insatser inom socialtjänsten

“…Kunskap som aggregeras på lokal organisationsnivå, till exempel genom standardiserade bedömnings-och utredningsstöd, lokala uppföljningar och utvärderingar, har också lyfts fram som viktiga för val och motivering av insatser (Alexanderson 2006) och för att styra verksamheter (Shanks 2016;Shanks, Lundström & Bergmark 2014). Det finns också studier som visar hur lekmännen i socialnämnden påverkar professionen och etablerar en normativ standard för vilka beslut och val av insatser som kan passera socialnämnden (Forkby, Höjer & Liljegren 2014.…”

‘Voluntary’ and ‘involuntary’ child welfare: Challenging the distinction

“…A further limitation is the degree to which the terminology and policy of the Finnish child welfare system communicates across countries as the division of voluntary and involuntary care orders is exceptional. Nevertheless, it is common that a full understanding of the country-specific features of child welfare systems requires a considerable amount of knowledge from inside (e.g., Dickens, 2008; Forkby, Höjer, & Liljegren, 2015).…”