From ‘placement’ to ‘a child on the move’: Methodological strategies to give children a more central position in Child Welfare Service

Abstract

Within both politics and research children have been increasingly depicted as autonomous individuals with a right to be heard and have a say. Children's Welfare Services has been criticized for neglecting to view children as knowledgeable actors in their own cases. In referring to a national Norwegian study with 109 children aged 6–12 years who were placed out-of-home by Children's Welfare Services, this article proposes strategies to make children more visible in practice as well as within research related to Children's Welfare Services. By conceptualizing such placement as a change of residency, or, more colloquially, the ‘child on the move’, new sources of knowledge appear to be relevant; namely studies about children's everyday life, even encompassing knowledge about ordinary moves in ordinary families. The article concludes that importing methodological approaches and substantial knowledge from research on the everyday lives of unremarkable children to the field of Child Welfare Service may help establish children as key agents in their own cases, and even reduce the process of ‘othering’ welfare clients.