Ungdoms inngang til og møte med barnevernet

Abstract

The topic of this dissertation is reports of concern to the Norwegian Child Welfare Service (CWS). Reports of concern is the most common way children and families get in contact with the CWS. Whether a report of concern is given to the CWS and what the service decides to do with it, is crucial for providing children with appropriate help. Despite the importance of how reports of concern are being dealt with, research on the topic remain scarce. The scope of this dissertation is to get knowledge about young people’s experiences of getting in contact with the CWS. The main question of the dissertation is: Which experiences did youth have regarding reaching out to the child welfare service? Which understandings of reports of concern, and of youths, may have been important for the youths’ experiences? In order to examine these questions, I have chosen a qualitative and exploratory research design. I have used qualitative interviews combined with analysis of central political documents for the CWS. I have conducted eight individual interviews with youths. I have also conducted five individual interviews and two group-interviews with caseworkers employed in the municipal CWS. Theoretically this study builds upon sociological perspectives on children and youths and Institutional ethnography (IE), particularly Dorothy Smith (1987, 2005). In the dissertation I have paid special attention to the concepts of standpoint, work, and ruling relations, as Smith defines them.