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Understanding the capacity of child welfare (CW) organisations to deal with child abuse is complex, and dependent on the specific CW context. Sweden occupies a unique position in trying to balance high demands for CW and protection with a strong family support focus, which carries a risk of overlooking children who need protection. Drawing on an understanding of social service organisations as street-level bureaucracies, this article explores discretion in child abuse cases by examining conditions affecting discretion and strategies for investigating child abuse, including police reporting. Thematic analysis of interviews with Swedish supervising social workers showed that staff’s conceptions of the CW system influenced the exercise of discretion, leading to different strategies for dealing with child abuse. This resulted in different practices and potentially unequal access to child protection and support, highlighting the wide margin of discretion. This article concludes that the interplay between knowledge and governance is central to equal child protection. This article contributes to the discussion of discretion in CW organisations by underlining the importance of being particularly vigilant about discretion when both children and parents are considered clients, as the child risks being lost as a subject with individual needs and rights.

Background A significant number of children experience violence, frequently from parents or other caregivers. Yet, many of these children lack access to community support, largely due to the challenges they face in disclosing abuse. Even when children do disclose abuse, it does not necessarily lead to their receiving the help needed. Recognizing children as epistemic subjects is essential both for ensuring their access to adequate support and for advancing knowledge about child abuse.

Objective This study aimed to explore children's voices on violence in child welfare files to enhance our understanding of their experiences of violence.

Participants and setting The sample consisted of 120 children who provided abuse information in Swedish child welfare investigations into physical and sexual abuse.

Method Data were collected from child welfare files and analyzed qualitatively using thematic analysis.

Results Six themes were identified—acts of violence, emotions, context, disclosure, agency, and abuse dynamics—all of which informed the overarching theme: Children's voices highlight violence as a specific problem characterized by power and control dynamics that significantly impact their lives.

Conclusions The collective findings indicate that mechanisms of violence extend beyond physical acts, emphasizing the need for Child Welfare Services (CWS) to recognize child abuse as a distinct issue characterized by dynamics of power and control. These dynamics significantly affect children's health and their capacity to assert their own interests. Failure to address these aspects risks underestimating the severity of the violence and impeding the provision of adequate support.

I denna rapport presenteras resultaten av en studie som genomförts på uppdrag av Barnahus i Dalarna. Barnahus i Dalarna startades 2007 med målsättningen att erbjuda barn som misstänks vara utsatta för våldsbrott i nära relationer och sexualbrott ett behovsanpassat omhändertagande. Verksamheten utgörs av tvärprofessionell samverkan mellan Åklagarkammaren i Falun, Polismyndigheten Dalarna, socialtjänsten i Dalarnas samtliga kommuner, Barn- och ungdomsmedicin i Dalarna och Barn- och ungdomspsykiatrin i Dalarna. Under 2021 uppmärksammades en minskning av ärenden som aktualiseras för samråd i Barnahus och det uppfattades viktigt att öka kunskapen om socialtjänsternas perspektiv på polisanmälan och tvärprofessionell samverkan. Det uppdrogs därför till Sara Quarles van Ufford, Högskolan Dalarna, att genomföra en intervjustudie med representanter för de socialtjänster som ingår i barnahussamverkan. 

Syftet var att undersöka socialtjänsternas perspektiv på polisanmälan av misstänkta vålds- och sexualbrott mot barn och identifiera upplevda hinder, möjligheter och förbättringsområden för tvärprofessionell samverkan, samt belysa socialtjänsternas utgångspunkter vid utredning av våld mot barn. Studien baserades på semistrukturerade intervjuer med första linjens arbetsledare inom socialtjänsten som analyserades kvalitativt med hjälp av tematisk analysmetod. 

Resultaten visade att socialtjänsterna delvis har olika utgångspunkter och strategier för att utreda våld mot barn vilket påverkar inställningen till att polisanmäla brottsmisstankar – och som leder till att våld mot barn handläggs på olika sätt. Det framkom att bedömningar av om en polisanmälan ska göras kraftigt skiljer sig åt, liksom den upplevda nyttan och konsekvenserna av en polisanmälan. Medan vissa betonar vikten av att barnet synliggörs som brottsoffer menar andra att en polisanmälan försvårar samarbete och stöd till familjen. Generellt uppfattas socialtjänstens utredningsprocess försvåras när brottsutredningen drar ut på tiden med negativa konsekvenser för barn och familjer – och vetskapen om att förundersökningar tenderar att dra ut på tiden kan upplevas som ett hinder för att göra en polisanmälan. Samtidigt menar flera informanter att en utebliven polisanmälan kan innebära risker för att våld och intressekonflikter mellan barn och föräldrar förminskas och inte utreds på djupet. Vidare framkom att tvärprofessionell samverkan ofta uppfattas upphöra efter det initiala samrådet och att barnpsykiatrisk kompentens inte upplevs tillgänglig vid behovsbedömningar som aktualiseras i ett senare skede av processen. Det uppfattas också vara svårt för barn som aktualiseras i Barnahus att få hjälp via Barn- och ungdomspsykiatrin. Generellt uppfattas det finnas flera vinster med att göra en polisanmälan – men också flera förbättringsområden för tvärprofessionell samverkan som kan sammanfattas i fem övergripande områden: 

• Tydliggöra, stärka och jämställa barnahusaktörernas roller 
• Ökad snabbhet i brottsutredningen och synkronisering med socialtjänstens utredning
• Förbättrade möjligheter för fortsatt tvärprofessionell samverkan i Barnahus med fokus på stöd och behandling
• I större utsträckning beakta geografiska aspekter i barnahussamverkan
• Ökat fokus på ”barnets bästa” i barnahussamverkan 

Child participation is considered crucial for the authorities’ ability to protect children from violence – yet children’s actual participation is limited, and participation and protection rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child are often understood as opposites. This article aims to explore children’s rights to participation and protection against violence in Swedish social services’ handling of violence against children. Child welfare reports, investigations and child social records, were analysed using quantitative content analysis and thematic analysis. Insufficient conditions for child participation and poor access to protection and support were indicated. Upon closer analysis of cases that did not lead to protection or support, different aspects of an overarching theme, The Protection Paradox, were identified, which meant protection against participation or unprotected autonomy.

BACKGROUND: The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibits all forms of violence against children. Sweden was early in introducing a ban on disciplinary violence; however, difficulties have been noted in identifying children in need of protection and providing help for children exposed to violence.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to explore the social services' police reporting and children's access to protection and support in cases of physical and sexual child abuse.

METHODS: The sample consisted of 291 child welfare reports from three Swedish municipalities. Data were collected from child welfare reports, investigations, and child social records and analyzed using quantitative content analysis.

RESULTS: A majority of the cases, including cases with a high indication for police reporting, were not reported to the police by the social services. Although the child in 60.1 % of cases provided information about violence, 70.7 % of all child welfare investigations were completed without support measures, and only 8.2 % led to protection or support linked to violence. Children's participation was limited, suggesting inadequate conditions for children's access to protection and support.

CONCLUSIONS: Children's right to protection against violence requires the recognition of children as active participants with access to safe participation. Failure to report suspected crimes against children risks minimizing acts of violence or making violence invisible. Difficulties in handling conflicts of interest between children and parents risk neither protection nor support being provided for the child.