Participation is a key issue for children moving to a shelter for victims of domestic violence. To get information, be consulted and be able to take part in decisions regarding the move could potentially make the often hasty and unplanned transition to and stayin an unfamiliar context easier for the child and support the child's sense of coherence in spite of a challenging situation. There is currently a lack of research on methods aiding children's participation. The aim of the current study is to explore how the practice model Good Dialogues, which is intended to facilitate and enhance children's participation, is put into practice in a women's shelter context. Drawing on a pilot project with interviews with practitioners in a women's shelter in Sweden, and a sample of audio recorded Good Dialogues conversations between practitioners and children, the study shows that implementation of this method is possible in a shelter context and that it can be put into practice as intended: to enhance children's participation. However, more research is needed to fully understand how this practice model works in a shelter context and how participation for children in shelters for victims of domestic violence can be enhanced in the best way possible.

Artikeln utforskar hur civilsamhällets aktörer möter barn som har upplevt våld i nära relationer och som varit med om familjerättsliga processer rörande vårdnad, boende och umgänge. Med utgångspunkt i sju kvalitativa intervjuer med elva medarbetare inom kvinnojourer, barnrättsorganisationer och juridisk praktik undersöks hur de upplever att barns vardag formas i skärningspunkten mellan familj, civilsamhälle och myndigheter. Studien är etnologiskt orienterad och analyserar deltagarnas beskrivningar av hur barns positioner, handlingsutrymme och känslomässiga erfarenheter ges mening i mötet med civilsamhället. Med stöd i begrepp som temporalitet och liminalitet analyseras utsagor om hur barns liv präglas av väntan, osäkerhet och vardagliga former av styrning. Metodologiskt används etnografiska hyperberättelser, vilket är fiktiva men empiriskt förankrade narrativ, som ett analytiskt och etiskt grepp för att gestalta centrala teman och relationella mönster i materialet. Artikeln bidrar till kulturanalytisk forskning genom att synliggöra civilsamhällets roll som en arena där barns erfarenheter tolkas, omförhandlas och ges betydelse.

The article explores how the civil society engage with children who have experienced domestic violence and have been involved in family law proceedings concerning custody, residence, and contact. Drawing on seven qualitative interviews with eleven practitioners from women's shelters, children's rights organizations, and legal aid, the study examines how they perceive children's everyday lives as being shaped at the intersection of family, civil society, and authorities. The study is ethnologically oriented and analyzes accounts of how children's positions, agency, and emotional experiences are given meaning in encounters with the civil society. Using concepts such as temporality and liminality, the analysis focuses on descriptions of how children's lives are characterized by waiting, uncertainty, and everyday forms of governance. Methodologically, the article employs ethnographic hyper-narratives, which are fictional yet empirically grounded accounts, as an analytical and ethical strategy to present central themes and relational patterns in the material. The article contributes to cultural analysis by highlighting civil society as an arena in which children's experiences are interpreted, renegotiated, and given meaning.

The objective was to explore how children and young people retrospectively described their own strategies to get access to protection and support for recovery after disclosing child sexual abuse. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 14 young people who had disclosed sexual abuse during childhood shows that the participants adopted a range of strategies to be able to access protection and support for recovery. The strategies include finding allies among adults, arguing their case, resisting adult agendas, taking initiatives, and choosing exit. The results demonstrate how a child’s agency may contribute to the outcomes for a particular child, while children’s opportunities for protection and recovery are both restricted by parental rights and heavily depend on responsive adults pushing a children’s rights agenda.

The aim of this paper is to explore how the marketisation of welfare shapes the organisation and provision of shelter services for victims of intimate partner violence. It does so by examining understandings of quality among senior shelter officials in Sweden, a context increasingly shaped by New Public Management reforms, where non-profit, for-profit, and public shelters compete for public funding. Based on interview data, three primary themes emerged: shelter environment, services provided, and the shelter workforce. Most officials stressed the need for a secure, dignified, and home-like setting, but differences also surfaced. Non-profit representatives emphasised counselling for long-term well-being, empowerment, and sustained support, while for-profit officials focused more on collaboration with residents. A recurring topic was prioritising professional staff over volunteers, signalling broader professionalisation trends within shelter work. Concerns were raised about how this shift might impact values traditionally upheld by non-profit shelters. The paper then initiates a critical discussion on how market forces might influence the construction of quality in shelters, with particular attention to non-profits' financial situation, advocacy work, and core mission. Finally, it underscores the need for further research on marketisation and non-profit shelters, both in Sweden and internationally, in light of evolving welfare systems.

Shelter is a crucial intervention for women and children exposed to intimate partner violence. Despite this, we know little about abused women’s perceptions of good quality in shelters. This study aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of quality in shelters by investigating abused women’s experiences of living in domestic violence shelters. The study is based on 19 semi-structured interviews with women who have lived in shelters in Sweden, analysed using thematic analysis. Our findings show a complex and contradictory picture of shelter, with quality varying widely between shelters. The analysis of the women’s experiences shows that (1) the living environment is crucial for the experience of living in a shelter, (2) the rules and design of the shelter can be perceived as a continuum of control, (3) the support offered should consist of a palette of interventions such as supportive counselling, practical help, relief and activities, (4) that living in shelters can lead to extensive loneliness and (5) shelter ought to be understood as more than a safe place; it is also a place of recovery, safety, and meaning-making for the future. Thus, these women’s experiences provide essential insights into understanding shelter quality.

Previous research indicates that child welfare services reach out to children exposed to violence unequally depending on the child’s social background, living conditions and violence type, and that once children are investigated by the child welfare services, inequalities in access to interventions prevail (e.g. Kalin et al. 2022; Knezevic 2021; Persdotter & Andersson 2020; Quarles van Ufford et al. 2022). There is a lack of systematic knowledge about the long term outcomes for children investigated by the child welfare services. The current study explores different childhood trajectories in the aftermath of a child welfare investigation initiated due to children’s exposure to violence. A register was set up including all children (n= 1 764) between 7-12 years that were investigated by child welfare services in Stockholm in 2019 for suspected exposure to violence. As a baseline this cohort was systematically compared to demographic data and a national self-report prevalence study to explore possible biases regarding which children the child welfare services investigates (Kassman et al. 2023). In the current paper, the study group development in the first three years following upon the child welfare investigation was explored as regards living conditions, out of home care, health care consumption and school grades. The development of the study group was also systematically compared to a comparison group of children (n=5 000). Descriptive analysis, cluster analysis and logistic regressions were used. 

Objective: Based on the notion of selective recognition of vulnerability and risk, this study explores which children CWS pursue to a complete child welfare investigation.

Methods: A register was set up including all children (n= 1 764) between 7-12 years that were investigated for suspected exposure to violence by CWS in Sweden in 2019. This cohort was systematically compared to demographic data and a national self-report prevalence study. 

Results: Children exposed to violence have reduced access to material resources and inferior living conditions compared to non-exposed children. Physical abuse was more prevalent among boys of foreign backgrounds in stable, two-parent families residing in higher-status suburbs. Conversely, neglect was more common among children of Swedish backgrounds in low-income, single-parent households living in low-status suburbs. In comparison with self-reported prevalence studies, sexual and psychological abuse seem underrepresented in the study group.

Conclusions: The results indicate that CWS should develop its methods to reach certain vulnerable groups that are underrepresented for safeguarding and support, for example, girls exposed to sexual abuse.

The article presents a study on structured support for the professional assessment of emergent domestic violence in families with children. Data are presented on the development and study of a new structured support called iRiSk emergency, which was developed jointly by the authors of this article, and an emergency social work unit in Stockholm, Sweden. The model was developed from the iRiSk model, which, translated from Swedish, stands for ‘Interventions and Risk and Protection Assessments for children exposed to violence’. Structured support for emergency risk assessments is rare as existing instruments mainly focus on screening for violence and are not designed to guide professionals in situations of identified violence. The purpose of the research project is elaborated through two research questions: (1) Which information is needed for emergency assessments, and how can it be collected? (2) What are the specific preconditions of the child welfare service emergency work to be taken into account in terms of emergency risk assessments? The feedback from the social workers was that iRiSk emergency was flexible to use, decreased the risk of missing important risk factors and made the assessments more child-centred. The model appears to be a viable approach for enhancing the systematic evaluation and testing of structured support for emergency risk assessment in social work, surpassing the limitations of the current study.

Rapporten fokuserar på implementeringen av modellen ”Efter barnförhöret” via det mobila teamet på Barnahus i Stockholms stad. Syftet med implementeringsstudien var att undersöka möjligheterna till att implementera en familjeorienterad krisinventionsmodell som Efter barnförhöret för att stödja barn och deras familjer efter ett polisförhör som rör våld i familjen. I projektet skulle fokus vara på genomförbarhet och användning av arbetsmodellen samt vilka organisatoriska och personella förutsättningar som främjar respektive hindrar implementeringen av arbetsmodellen. Befintligt dokumenterat material inhämtades i kombination med att intervjuer genomfördes under 2021-2022 med ledning och krisstödsteamets personal. I projektet framkom flera utmaningar som att få till ett jämt remissflöde, att kunna hantera situationer när det blir få respektive många barn och familjer som behöver stöd utifrån personalens arbetssituation. Vidare beskrev personalen behov av att få tid och resurser till utbildning och metodutveckling och ett behov av ett ökat stöd från ledningen.

Objective: The study explores risk assessment methods used in CWS investigations, and the impact of these instruments on documented risk factors, assessments of risk and need, and interventions offered. 

Methods: Data was drawn from the SAVE study 2023. 

Results: The risk assessment instrument may implact upon the riskfactors documented, and riskfactors were documented to a higher degree regarding children with a Swedish background, older children and children with known or suspected disabilities, and in relation to psychological violence to children including exposure to intimate partner violence. No clear links were found between documented risk factors, the overall assessment or the interventions offered.

Conclusions: The results indicate that there is a clear need practice improvement as regards research-based risk assessments in CWS investigations in cases of violence to children.