Abstract
AbstractEvaluating the participatory opportunities for service users within social welfare institutions is a pressing issue. In this article, we explore a group of ethnic minority parents' experiences with child welfare services (CWS) in Norway. A strong narrative theme was deficiency positioning—how lacking a Norwegian normative set of knowledge and skills challenged the parents' opportunities to participate. We analysed how deficiency positioning was perceived, negotiated, and contested in the parents' accounts, and 4 themes emerged: (a) learning to parent, (b) contesting expert knowledge, (c) learning to be a client, and (d) constructing CWS deficiency. Nancy Fraser's concept of “participatory parity” was applied to explore how current institutional structures may enable and limit parents' participation. The analysis provides insight into agencies and informants' sense‐making processes as well as the diverse resources and strategies that parents draw upon in the CWS encounter. Furthermore, we argue that an interplay between a strong focus on “parenting skills” and bureaucratic and economic structures positions ethnic minority parents as deficient, thus providing powerful mechanisms for marginalization. Implications for case work and institutional levels are discussed.
Highlights
We explore a group of ethnic minority parents' experiences with child welfare services (CWS) in Norway
In 2013, we engaged in a research project aiming to explore institutional practices in Norwegian child welfare services (CWS) from the perspectives of ethnic minority parents
Our analysis explored how deficiency positioning was perceived, negotiated, and contested in the parents' narratives through the following four narrative themes: (a) learning to parent, (b) contesting expert knowledge, (c) learning to be a client, and (d) constructing child welfare deficiency
Summary
In 2013, we engaged in a research project aiming to explore institutional practices in Norwegian child welfare services (CWS) from the perspectives of ethnic minority parents. One of our informants was Paul, a father of four children, who had migrated to Norway more than 10 years ago after a difficult time in a refugee camp. He vividly narrated his first encounters with CWS, expressing that he had struggled to make sense of CWS when his child was suddenly placed in care. “[Paul], here in Norway, we have the child welfare services. It functions like this, like this, like this.”. They didn't send someone to teach me either. “[Paul], you will raise this child like this, like this.” They did not do that. [...] That is a scandal! It is not logical
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