Child protection interviews in cases of suspected child abuse. Investigation, support, and children’s participation in interviews with social workers

Research problem and questionsChildren have a right to active participation in matters affecting their own lives.

The project aims to explore and concretize how children’s participation is actualized in child protection interviews with social workers. Such interviews seek to encourage children’s active participation.

However, participation is an abstract concept that potentially counters the aim of child interviews to collect information from the child.

It is thus important to examine children’s participation and how social workers orient to hybrid institutional goals of interviews vis-à-vis investigation and support.

Research questions: How is participation accomplished in interaction between children and social workers during child protection interviews?What perspectives do social workers display in terms of supporting and promoting children’s participation in child protection interviews?

Data and methodThe project combines two sub-studies.Sub-study 1: examines audio-recorded interviews between social workers and children (possibly) subjected to abuse.

Interviews are analysed using interaction analysis to examine communicative strategies accomplishing participation.Sub-study 2: analysis of practice-focused dialogues between researchers and social workers (‘utvecklingsdialoger’).

In such dialogues, the social workers examine transcribed child interviews and discuss how children’s participation is actualized or constrained through concrete communicative practices.Synergies between Study 1-2: based on both the researchers’ and the social workers’ analyses, the project contributes to deeper understandings of children’s participation, development of professional knowledge and improvement of guidelines for child interviews.

Societal relevanceChildren’s right to participation and right to express their views on matters affecting them are important democratic principles, especially when providing support to vulnerable children.

The project contributes with theoretical and practice-relevant knowledge about how participation is concretized in child protection interviews. As such, the project contributes with knowledge that constitutes basis for improved child protections interviews.

Project realisationStudy 1-2: analysis of i) audio-recorded interviews between social workers and children, ii) practice focused dialogues between researchers and social workers.