Practitioners Challenges in Child Participation in Out-of-Home Care in Sweden: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the understandings by child protection practitioners regarding participation rights of the children and the challenges they encounter when promoting child participation for children in out-of-home placement. Child participation holds increasing significance within the field of child protection services in Sweden. In accordance with Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is enshrined in Swedish law, children have the right to express their opinions on matters directly affecting them. However, child protection practitioners in Sweden have not consistently prioritized listening to children in such cases. There is limited knowledge regarding the challenges faced by child protection practitioners in promoting child participation, particularly in the context of out-of-home care. To address this research area, a qualitative systematic review was conducted, involving PRISMA statement and literature published between 1989 and 2023. Sources of documents were Scopus database, Gothenburg university catalogue and google scholar. Thematic analysis was used to showcase the results from the existing literature.

Total 10 documents were included for systematic review. The results revealed that child protection practitioners hold satisfactory knowledge about child participation though still gaps of knowledge exists among them regarding UNCRC which is now law in Sweden. The study also explores the dynamics of communication between children and practitioners. Existing laws and practices as well as organizational policies define the challenges of practitioners in promoting child participation. However, other challenges e.g., perspectives and organizational challenges arose because of unsatisfactory knowledge of child participation within child participation models aligned with UNCRC but child as agent versus subject to protection also build the present perspectives towards child participation in out-of-home care. Recommendations for further research are also made based on the results and discussion of the research.