Rasmusson

Lunds universitet i världsklassLund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009
Children’s Advocacy Centres (CACs)
in Sweden
Bodil Rasmusson
ISCI Conference, Sidney 2009
Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009
Background - CACs
At Iceland since 1998
In Norway since 2007
piloting initiated by the Government at 6 sites 2006-2007
the number is growing
Objectives and basic Ideas
Reduced amount of interviews with children
Higher quality of investigations
Increased numbers of legal proceedings
”Barnahus” in Linköping
Waiting room Stockholm
1.bin
Consultation room Stockholm
2.bin
Room for forensic interviews Linköping
Medical examination room Linköping
Evaluation of the piloting 2006-2007
Aim
Give voice to children and parents who have been in contact with or been directly affected by CACs
(one of the six studies)
Research questions
Children’s and parent’s experiences from meetings with the authorities?
Have the objectives of CACs been fulfilled from the perspectives of children and parents?
Who take charge of children’s rights – where and when?
Methods and sample
Qualitative interviews with
representing all the six sites
Theoretical frame of reference
Children as informants, coactors and actors
The child as an individual and as a member of a family
Themes for the interviews
Previous contacts with professional helpers
Information
Experiences of the assessment processes and the possibilities for support, treatment and help
Good advices
Results – environment and staff
Environment too ”childish” according to teenagers
Negative reactions from children to the video cameras
Results – information and understanding of the procedures
Difficult for younger children to understand the forensic interviews
Difficulties for parents to understand the procedures and roles of different professionals
Access to information not always satisfactory
Results –support and treatment
Treatment, support and crisis intervention for the whole family not always satisfactory
Access to support and treatment dependent on resources and organisation at each CAC
Suspected perpetrators could feel excluded
Results –support and treatment
Sometimes reasons to talk about ”agencies” assault on children and families
Number of contacts with professionals could not always be reduced
Children could be informants, actors and coactors but are mostly objects for protection
Voice from a parent
There will be too many authorities. I didn’t understand how serious it was from the beginning and the consequences. There will be four different investigations – by the police, social services, child psychiatry and one about the custody…
Voice from a parent
About meetings with the police at CAC:
It is very fine that it is not at the police station. Police is something frightening to children, I am convinced. It is so dramatic./…/ Good treatment when you enter the door and that is important. And then that they don’t use uniforms…
Voice from a girl, 16 years old
About her contact with the social services:
They had no plan for what to do, they just went on. I felt that they were always in a hurry. They had a lot to do. When you talk with them they seemed so stressed. Especially one of them, the other one is a little bit better, seems a little bit more calm. But it feels a bit sad. My boyfriend called her but she scolded him and told him that he shouldn’t bother …
Voice from a girl, 15 years old
About the support from the social worker at CAC:
I hurt myself before and she told me – ”when you get that feeling, just postpone it and tell yourself that you can do something else first, take a shower, do your homework and meet friends”. This has been in my thoughts since then. It has helped me a lot.
Challenges for CACs
Balancing of different perspectives – child, parents’ and family – separately and together
Inventions in the short and long term
Developing organisations according to the best interest of the child
And…..
Thank you!

Rasmusson

Documents

Transcript of Rasmusson