Title:
Attitudes and Behavior of Social Workers towards Sibling Relationships of Children in Child Protective Services (CPS) in Norway
Start/end of the project:
October 2021-September 2025
Project description:
This research addresses an under-explored aspect of child welfare by investigating social workers’ attitudes and behaviors toward sibling relationships among children involved with Child Protective Services (CPS). Given the significant impact that sibling dynamics have on children’s safety, well-being, and family bonds, social workers play a pivotal role in interpreting risks and implementing interventions that influence children’s long-term outcomes. However, despite the importance of sibling relationships, limited research exists on how social workers navigate this dimension in child welfare contexts.
The study focuses on the Norwegian CPS, aiming to generate empirical insights into social workers’ perspectives and their implications for policy and practice. It seeks to inform the development of a more child-centered welfare system that prioritizes sibling relationships, fostering holistic care practices. To achieve this, the research explores one central question:
What are the attitudes and behaviors of social workers toward sibling relationships of children in CPS? This is divided into three interconnected sub-questions addressed through three separate papers.
Paper I undertakes a comprehensive review of global literature to examine how key adults in CPS contexts perceive and manage sibling relationships. This review serves multiple purposes: to provide a critical synthesis of existing knowledge, identify significant research
gaps, and position the current study within the broader scholarly discourse, thereby emphasizing its unique contributions to the field.
Papers II and III build on empirical data derived from 20 semi-structured in-depth interviews with social workers employed in the Norwegian CPS. The focus on Norway’s child welfare system stems from insights gained during the literature review, which highlighted a substantial lack of research regarding social workers’ attitudes toward sibling relationships, both internationally and within the Nordic context. By addressing this gap, the study seeks to enrich the academic understanding of sibling dynamics in child welfare practices and offer region-specific insights with broader implications for global policy and practice.