Nordic child welfare services: variations in norms, attitudes and practice
| Published date | 01 December 2007 |
| Pages | 44-58 |
| Date | 01 December 2007 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17466660200700035 |
| Author | Turid Grinde |
| Subject Matter | Education,Health & social care,Sociology |
44
1Norwegian Social
Research, NOVA,
Oslo, Norway
Journal of Children’s Services
Volume 2 Issue 4 December 2007
© Pavilion Journals (Brighton) Ltd
Abstract
Earlier Nordic comparative studies show variation between countries in child welfare practice, reflecting
cultural differences, and that case workers share the norms, values and attitudes of their society. Can
cultural factors be concretised for discussion? Child welfare workers in Denmark, Iceland and Norway
were presented with five child care stories (vignettes) that focused on the ‘threshold’ between preventive
measures and out-of-home care (consensual or compulsory). Vignette themes included parental neglect,
maternal alcohol misuse and youth problems. Study participants gave written answers to the vignettes
and took part in group discussions with colleagues. The results showed significant differences between
countries in case workers’ responses. Variations in arguments, decisions, use of compulsion and working
style reflected national views and priorities. A central dimension was how case workers balanced parental
interests with children’s needs: in Denmark they were reluctant to intervene with parental rights, whereas
the Norwegians were more accepting of compulsory decisions to protect children.
Key words
child welfare; comparative research; cultural differences; thresholds; norms and values
Introduction
While the intervention criteria applied by child care
services are virtually identical across the Nordic
region, the judgement exercised by case workers in
individual cases varies, leading to significant national
differences in practice. This was the conclusion of a
study that compared child care services in Denmark,
Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden (Grinde, 1989).
It showed that the number of children in out-of-home
care varied, as did the age breakdown of placed
children and the extent to which children moved
between home and out-of-home care. There were
differences in the emphasis given to parental
interests as opposed to the ‘child’s best interests’, in
the use of compulsory measures, and in the types of
problem most likely to trigger concern about parental
care or behavioural problems exhibited by
adolescents. Denmark and Norway were at opposite
ends of the scale in several areas. Denmark had more
out-of-home care than the other countries, especially
of adolescents, whereas Norway had few. In Denmark
there was a general reluctance to encroach on private
and family life with compulsory measures.
The Danish National Institute of Social Research,
Copenhagen, followed this study up a decade later
with a comparison of Nordic legislations and the use
of compulsory measures. This confirmed both the
similarities in the Nordic countries’ intervention
criteria and the differences in child care practice
(Hestbæk, 1998). Whereas the earlier project in the
1980s tentatively suggested that child care services’
sensitivity in relation to various types of problem was
a matter of national profile, Hestbæk pointed to
differences in norms and values. But what are these
differences, and how do they arise? Why do child care
services vary across a region whose countries share
so much in common?
Nordic child welfare services:
variations in norms, attitudes
and practice
Turid Vogt Grinde1
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