Sammendrag
English summary Norms of Parenting – Civilization and Resistance in Norwegian Child Welfare Services In today’s society, the expectations of parenthood are higher than ever, with seeking expert knowledge now considered a routine aspect of modern parenting. Parenting ideals have become highly child-centered and resource-intensive, demanding significant financial, emotional, and time investments. While extensive research links parenting practices to child well-being, critics caution against treating parenting as a context-independent phenomenon. This dissertation critically examines interactions between parents and child welfare services, particularly when such services seek to guide parents to align with prevailing norms and knowledge about "good" parenting. The focus is on relationships between child welfare services and parents from different socioeconomic backgrounds, framed by the overarching research question: How do parenting norms unfold in a Norwegian child welfare context? The study draws on survey responses from parents involved with child welfare services and qualitative interviews with both parents and child welfare workers. Findings indicate that parents in contact with child welfare services generally tend to adapt to prevailing parenting norms, though the requirements for adaptation vary based on the nature of interactions. The dissertation emphasizes potential unintended consequences of the child welfare services’ focus on interventions to improve "parenting skills," where stigmatization often plays a significant role. By highlighting resistance as an understudied phenomenon in social work, this dissertation provides both theoretical and empirical insights into parents' resistance to child welfare services, arguing that resistance should be viewed as an important and natural phenomenon in the child welfare context.