When the Norwegian child-welfare services get involved: parents making sense of referrals

Abstract

There is limited research exploring parents' views and understanding of referrals to the child-welfare services (CWS). This study explores parents' understanding of the circumstances leading to a child-welfare referral, and their understanding of the reporter's objectives in making the referral. Qualitative content analysis and frequency analysis was performed on open-ended survey responses from a sample of 683 Norwegian parents in contact with the CWS. The results showed that the majority (60.2%) of the parents perceived the referral to be initiated solely because of parental difficulties and multiple family life stressors. Some of the parents (22.8%) believed the referrals were initiated exclusively because of their children's problems, whereas a few (13.3%) perceived it to be a combination of parental/familial difficulties and children's problems. The findings reveal that close to half of the parents (46.4%) felt the objective of the person making the referral was to help the child, their parents and the family. Some (36.5%) saw it as a routine or mandated action by public or official services, while others (18.7%) reported that they did not know why referrals had been made, or gave no answer to the question. A small group of parents (6%) viewed the referral as an act of harassment. The main implications of these findings are discussed.Det er mangel på forskning som omhandler foreldres erfaring med-og forståelse av hvorfor en melder fra til barneverntjenesten. Denne studien utforsker foreldres forståelse av de bakgrunnsfaktorene som førte til at det ble sendt melding til barneverntjenesten og deres syn på formålet med meldingen. Studien baserer seg på spørreskjema fra 683 norske foreldre som har hatt kontakt med barneverntjenesten i Norge. Innholdsanalyse og frekvensanalyse ble brukt for å analysere spørsmål der respondentene selv formulerte svarene. Undersøkelsen viste at majoriteten av foreldrene (60,2%) mente at årsaken til at barnevernet ble kontaktet var vanskelige foreldre-og familieforhold. Noen foreldre (22,8%) mente at årsaken til meldingen var barnets vansker, mens noen få (13,3%) mente at det var en kombinasjon av foreldrenes egne vansker, familienes vansker og barnas vansker, som utløste bekymringsmeldingen. Funnene viste dessuten at nesten halvparten (46,4%) av foreldrene mente at grunnen til at det ble sendt en melding, var at melderen ønsket at barnet, foreldrene og familien skulle få hjelp. Noen foreldre (36,5%) så på meldingen som en rutine av offentlige meldere med meldeplikt. En liten gruppe foreldre (6%) mente at meldingen var sendt for å sjikanere dem eller deres barn. Implikasjoner av resultatene blir diskutert.

Parents' experiences of child protection practice in Denmark

“…Over the past few years, the number of dispatched referrals has increased (Bang, 2012;Willumsen, 2015), and figures demonstrate that in 2016, 104,100 referrals were received by Danish municipalities (Statistics Denmark, 2018). This rise in referrals in Denmark is consistent with the development in other countries, in Nordic countries, and in a broader international context (Chand & Thoburn, 2006;Studsrød, Ellingsen, & Willumsen, 2016).…”

“…This article seeks to explore why parents who wish to engage in child protection assessments and thereby presumable recognize the existence of problems report mostly negative experiences of the assessment . In answering the research question, the article contributes to the growing—but still limited—body of knowledge about parents' experiences on this matter (Studsrød et al, ; Studsrød, Willumsen, & Ellingsen, ).…”

Navigating emotions in child welfare: Immigrant parents’ experiences and perceptions of involvement with child welfare services in Norway

“…While the present study focuses on stressful factors for immigrant parents, Studsrød et al's (2016) study revealed that all parents might have underlying stressful factors that need to be taken into consideration when meeting child welfare workers. Studsrød et al (2016) noted that parental challenges, such as relationship breakdowns, mental health and drug problems, and single parenthood, can also affect child welfare involvement. Dettlaff and Fong (2016) observed that an easily overlooked aspect when working with immigrant families is that of migration-related challenges, including their journeys, which might have involved stressful environments and traumatic events, as was true for some of the parents in this study.…”

Family assessment conversations as a tool to support families affected by parental mental illness: a retrospective review of electronic patient journals

“…Venables et al referred to several international studies showing that parents feel fear, helplessness and stigmatization in the face of child welfare and protection services [ 25 ]. Studsrød et al reported that most parents understood the reason for referral to child welfare service as wanting to help the child or as a mandatory duty [ 26 ]. Recognizing that there are competing considerations between the needs of the children and the parents is important for anyone working with vulnerable families [ 27 ].…”