Exploring the Child Perspective in Child Welfare Practices: A comparative study of Italy, Norway and Slovenia
Project period
2017 – 2023
Background
The study is affiliated with an international project, Learning to Innovate with Families or LIFE[1], funded by the European Commission’s Erasmus + Programme. While LIFE mainly focused on innovating the role and working methods of practitioners, this study centers around the child.
Purpose
The purpose of the study is to explore ways of understanding and implementing ‘the child perspective’ in child welfare research and practice, starting from experiences of children and practitioners in Italy, Norway and Slovenia. Central to this exploration is the changing relationship between children, family and the State, and the welfare regimes framing the experiences of the participants in this study.
Methods
The research design is comparative in nature and consists of several qualitative approaches; comic strip conversations with children exploring their experiences of everyday life, individual interviews and focus groups with practitioners, focusing on their experiences of opportunities and challenges in working with families involved with child welfare services, and finally, observational data from discussions between practitioners when visiting their workplaces as well as during their participation in LIFE.
[1] See http://lifeprojecterasmus.eu/ for more information.