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Parents' perceptions of contact with the N orwegian C hild W elfare S ervices
Author(s) -
Studsrød Ingunn,
Willumsen Elisabeth,
Ellingsen Ingunn T.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
child and family social work
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.912
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-2206
pISSN - 1356-7500
DOI - 10.1111/cfs.12004
Subject(s) - norwegian , feeling , active listening , psychology , welfare , perception , social psychology , developmental psychology , quality (philosophy) , clinical psychology , psychotherapist , political science , philosophy , linguistics , neuroscience , law , epistemology
Abstract Listening to the opinions of service users is important in research. This study explored how parents cognitively and emotionally perceive contact with the N orwegian C hild W elfare S ervices ( CWS ). It also compared the reports of parents recently referred to the CWS with reports of more experienced users. A content analysis was conducted on open‐ended survey responses from parents ( n = 697). This study fills a gap in the literature on how parents perceive contact with the CWS and what they see as important factors when judging this contact. The findings showed that 40.6% of the parents reported exclusively positive experiences, 30.7% of the parents reported solely negative experiences, while 24% of the parents described both positive and negative experiences. The content of the positive and negative experiences were related to characteristics of the child welfare workers, the quality of the relationship, the help offered and the parent's feelings of insecurity and fear. New CWS users tended to view the contact as more positive than the more experienced ones. Practical implications are presented.