Child welfare services’ investigation of violence against children in Norway – a pilot and feasibility study

This pilot and feasibility study includes seven child welfare services (CWS) that completed a total of 136 surveys. The research design, initially developed and conducted in Sweden, is aimed at increasing knowledge about violence against children within child welfare services. The purpose of the present study was to test the feasibility of the research design and to pilot the main outcome variables. The survey comprises questions about CWS investigations of violence against children and intimate partner violence among their parents. The study shows that the research design is feasible with minor adjustments and that the study variables will contribute important knowledge to inform CWS practice. Results from the survey show that the participating CWS identify violence in the majority of cases that are opened due to suspicion of violence, with minor physical abuse towards the child being the most common form of violence. The results also indicate that children are the most frequent reporters of violence, while parents disclose violence in fewer cases. There is an association between the assessed risk of further violence and the number of identified risk factors, although risk assessment varies greatly between CWS.