”Have I missed anyone?” : Staff stories about work in private preschool and mandatory reporting

The aim of this study was to investigate how private preschool staff perceive their work with children, particularly in relation to how organizational factors may influence their understanding of the child's best interests and their reporting obligations. The study is based on semi-structured interviews conducted with six participants working in groups of children at private preschools. The interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results showed that preschool staff regarded the reporting obligation as an obvious duty. However, there was hesitations about which signs of vulnerability should be observed, as well as fear of negative consequences when making a report of concern. Furthermore, lack of knowledge regarding the reporting process emerged, which was aggravated by poor collaboration with social services, both in terms of knowledge transfer and feedback. The results were discussed in light of new institutional theory and highlighted how the reporting obligation may be influenced by organizational factors.