Securing permanence for children in care: A cross‐country analysis of citizen's view on adoption versus foster care

Abstract

If children in child protection cannot be cared for by their natural parents, should they be adopted or live in foster home? Results from a study of representative samples of populations (n = 12 330), in eight European countries-

Restricting family life - an examination of citizens’ views on state interventions and parental freedom in eight European countries

“…Although the results on demographic variables are not very strong, it is recognisable that respondents that suggest no state intervention are more likely to be men, having little education and being religious, but not supportive of the political orientation of the present government. Such results are also in line with findings in other studies of confidence in the child protection system (Juhasz & Skivenes, 2016 ; Skivenes & Benbenishty, 2023 ).…”

“…However, how much protection that is considered necessary is interpreted in various ways across countries, as reflected in different thresholds for placing children in out-of-home care (Berrick et al, 2023 ; Gilbert et al, 2011 ), in studies of differences between frontline workers and judicial decision-makers’ assessments of similar cases (Berrick et al, 2019 ), and in studies of social workers’ opinions (Berrick et al, 2015 , 2016 ; Kriz & Skivenes 2013 , 2014 , 2015 ). There are also indications that views differ within the same country and between countries on which type of circumstances that requires government intervention, which rights to protect, and how much the state should and can do (Berrick, 2011 ; Berrick et al, 2022 ; Skivenes, 2023 ; Skivenes & Benbenishty, 2023 ; Skivenes & Thoburn, 2017 ; Benbenishty & Schmid, 2013 ; Burns et al, 2021 ; Schmid & Benbenishty, 2011 ). Based on the main findings from this literature, the first two hypotheses are simply: H1: Populations will support government intervention and restrictions of parental freedom in a situation of potential child maltreatment, abuse, or neglect.…”

Legitimate child protection interventions and the dimension of confidence: A comparative analysis of populations views in six European countries

“…The hypothesis of institutional context provided a clear result as confidence level is lower in risk-oriented systems and comparatively higher in family serviceoriented systems. This corresponds with other population studies on child protection topics (Helland et al, 2022;Skivenes, 2021;Skivenes and Benbenishty, 2022b). These findings indicate that people have comparatively higher confidence in CPSs that have comparatively stronger authority to make interventions, and vice versa.…”