African immigrants in Sweden experiencing the threat of forced child removal

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study investigated the experiences of African parents living in Sweden around the concept of forced child removal. The study aimed at finding out their experiences and attitudes around the concept and how the threat of it affects their parenting styles and coping strategies in Sweden. Nine semi-structured qualitative interviews were made with participants of African origin living in Sweden. Data was analysed using a reflexive thematic analysis. An important contribution of the study to parenting amongst African immigrants in Sweden is knowledge gained of the shift from an authoritarian style of parenting towards an authoritative one. It is about going from punishing the children if they make mistakes in life to reasoning with them more about what is right to do in life. This knowledge is helpful for social workers working with this segment of the population because an authoritative style of parenting takes into consideration the autonomy of the child and, therefore, closer to the Swedish styles of parenting, than authoritarian styles, which can make interventions with such parents easier. Social workers, however, need to get closer to their clients to understand the motivations of this shift from individual clients as this might differ.