Et klasseperspektiv på barnevernets familier

Abstract

The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate how class and status affect the existence and construction of clienthood in the Norwegian Child Welfare Services (CWS). The study seeks to integrate the micro level (how people reason and act) and the macro level (distribution of goods, opportunities and power). The dataset consists of a survey of 715 parents from different households, whose children were registered as clients with the CWS. Parents were recruited from 12 different local CWS municipalities. Further, 16 Child Welfare Workers (CWW) were interviewed, categorized into 4 separate groups. The CWW came from 4 different local CWS municipalities. The study also made use of aggregated data from Statistics Norway and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. A class analysis of the families in the CWS displayed significant class differences in terms of the high representation of working class families and families dependent on welfare, particularly their representation in the supportive part of the CWS. However, the analysis also demonstrated class differences between the children in out-of-home care in relation to the type of services provided and the reason for providing these services. The analysis suggest that the class of the family matters more in predictive than retrospective decision-making processes. Further, it is argued that the significance of class is related to both a material and a moral dimension. The material dimension related to class, gives the CWS a distinct position as concern their opportunity to exert power over working class and non-employed families. Moreover, the significance of class is analyzed and discussed in light of the social policies and the different mandates of the CWS. An important principle of Norwegian child and family policies is to equalize children’s opportunities. This principle also pervades the program of the CWS. The Norwegian CWS is experiencing increased service demands, and as a result, more families are becoming CWS clients. This is a development that Norway shares with most Western Child Protection (CP)/CWS systems; however, it is the welfare orientated services which explain most of the growth in the proportion of clients in the population. The welfare orientation is a less developed side of most Anglophone CP systems. The thesis discusses whether the class differences in the CWS are a result of positive or negative discriminatory processes. Many services provided for lower classes are related to positive discrimination. Certain supportive services aim to improve the living conditions of the child/family and are designed to give marginalized children better opportunities and life chances. On the other hand, increased clientification of lower classes might mirror a change in social policy where ‘collective’ solidarity is losing ground.

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