Trust and complexities of multicultural social work: Narratives from child welfare services’ practitioners in Norway

Abstract Over the past decade, the status of Norwegian Child Welfare Services (CWS) has declined due to negative publicity and public critique, particularly among migrant families. Practitioners have been confronted with not only increasing diversity needs but also distrust of CWS. This article explores the complexities of trust issues with migrant families from the perspectives of practitioners, highlighting aspects of trustworthiness in CWS. The article draws from the qualitative part of a mixed-method study on multicultural practice in Norway. Borrowing from the arguments of Seligmann’s theory that trust is voluntarily reciprocal and involves a suspension of judgement and openness to experience, this article sheds light on barriers to and opportunities for trustworthy practice. The interrelated themes identified pertain to both professional and personal obstacles to the formation of trust and strategies for progressing toward a more trustworthy social work profession. The findings highlight that, while insufficient resources contribute to practitioners’ difficulties in establishing trust, addressing prejudice, and marginalization within the broader organizational context is imperative for enabling trustworthy practice. However, the experiences of the social workers in this research, do show that collaborative work and building alliances with families via respectful practice approaches supports mutual trust.