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Sibling relationships are potentially central in children's and young people's lives. Research has shown that the quality of sibling relationships changes in a variety of ways when a sibling(s) moves into care. There is limited understanding of the mechanisms that cause these changes. This study addresses this gap by reanalysing a dataset of 25 semistructured interviews with young people (16 to 23 years) drawn from a municipality in Southern Norway. The original study explored the changes in sibling relationships when the young person moved into care. This reanalysis of the data set explores specifically, using a template analysis, the mechanisms that children describe when exploring why these changes occur. Findings show the intricacies of the young person's social identification with the biological and/or foster family and how sharing a common identity may be key to the development of the sibling relationship when the young person(s) is taken into care. Our findings also show how key adults, such as foster parents and social workers, influence the relationship. The paper concludes with recommendations for social workers on how they may strengthen sibling relationships in families where children have been taken into care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on how immigrant women experience and negotiate their everyday life with children prior to and after leaving a violent partner. Twenty‐three women staying at domestic violence and abuse shelters with their children were interviewed about their experiences with assistance services and their everyday life with their children. At the time of the interviews, most of the women were legally separated or divorced and were either living in or in touch daily with shelters. In this paper, we look at some of the challenges that women face when exposed to violence in a relationship that involves children. Being exposed to violence from a partner raises a number of economic, practical, and emotional concerns, both prior to and after leaving. For the mothers in our study, maintaining a regular routine is key to making the children feel safe in an unpredictable setting. For many, economic dependence on the partner is replaced with economic dependence on assistance services after leaving the partner. Services must recognize that providing help to mothers who have left a violent partner constitutes more than just practical support but is crucial for mothers' ability to re‐establish a predictable everyday life with their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between professional work and standardization. There has been an increase in the use of standardized programmes in child welfare services (CWS) in Western society. Some researchers have criticized standardized programmes suggesting that they undermine professionals expertise and threaten their position, whereas others argue that such programmes strengthen professional practice. In this paper, we examine how standardized tools, in this case, a standardized parenting programme and a standardized Norwegian assessment tool, influence professional roles as experienced by child welfare workers (CWS professionals) in Norway. Semistructured individual and group interviews were conducted with 31 frontline workers in two CWS agencies. Our findings suggest that standardized tools increase the social workers experienced professional competence but challenge their professional knowledge base, reflective practice, and professional accountability. Professional and practical implications for CWS work are discussed in the light of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Siblings are key actors in the social network of young people in care. This paper explores young people's perceptions of changes in the quality of sibling relationships and the pathways relationships follow during the transition from the biological family into care. A thematic analysis of interviews with young Norwegian people (n = 25) in care showed that, in the biological family, sibling relationships are characterized by alliances, parentification, conflicts or nonexistence. After admission to child welfare services care, sibling relationships developed along multiple pathways. Their sibling relationships reshaped into either close and supportive, conflictual or completely broken relationships. Sibling relationships were dynamic, complex, with the pathway, and its impact on well‐being, being unique to each young person. Sibling relationship quality in the biological home did not predict relationship quality after admission to child welfare services. The implications for social worker practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to address risks young people in the late 20th and 21st century are exposed to with regard to political participation. Based on qualitative data and ordinary language interviews with 27 Norwegian pupils in upper secondary school, we address how the construction of the political space is understood by young people themselves. By analysing how young people define political interest and engagement, the findings indicate that a gap exists in the perception of 'own' and 'institutionalised' political participation. This paper concludes that exploring the understanding of politics among the young may reduce vulnerability of this particular group in their democratic participation as well as facilitate their political empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Collaboration with care partners is a political aim in recent white papers in Norway and internationally. Home care services regularly work closely with care partners, but there are many indications that the collaboration does not work satisfactorily. Aim: To explore home care staff and leaders' experiences of collaborating with care partners of older people with mental health problems through a personhood perspective. Methods: The study had a qualitative design and comprised eight health professionals in two focus groups and in‐depth interviews with three leaders in one home care district. The data were analysed using a thematic framework analysis building on previous research on personhood. criteria for reporting qualitative reporting guidelines were used to ensure comprehensive reporting. Results: Four themes were identified in the analysis: 'non‐negotiated relationships', 'contradictory agendas', 'weak paternalism' and 'moral compromise'. Conclusion: There seems to be a lack of facilitation of collaborative relationships through all levels of the home care organisation. The interactions between care partners and home care staff sometimes appear to produce low or negative levels of emotional energy, and situations where the personhood of neither of them is respected occurs. Paying attention to the four modes of being as a framework for understanding personhood creates the foundation for a person‐centred approach that enhances the potential of creating stronger partnership in care relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across stages of acquisition, second language (L2) competencies are contingent on the variation among individuals learning the language, in both informal and formal learning contexts. This study investigates a group of outliers whose extreme test scores serve as a foundation to examine them as individuals. The study addresses the outliers' characteristics as good L2 readers but poor first language (L1) readers. Combining quantitative (test results, survey, and language logs) and qualitative (focus groups and interviews) data among 21 adolescents in Norway (aged 16–17 years), the study identifies dimensions of individual language use in L1 Norwegian and L2 English. Findings revealed that they explained their English proficiency by the role of interest and their extensive use of English technology and tools outside school. In‐depth analysis identified three profiles: the Gamer, who spends up to 8 hr daily playing online games while using English mainly; the Surfer, who spends hours on the Internet, searching for authentic language situations, commonly involving English; and the Social Media User, who produces and consumes information in English through social media. Additionally, the Gamers read printed novels voluntarily outside the classroom. This study offers unique perspectives and new directions for future L2 research. Lay Description: What is currently known: Most young people read better in their first language (L1) than in a second language (L2).Young people with an outlier profile read significantly better in L2 English than L1 Norwegian.Internet access facilitates opportunities to improve English skills outside formal schooling. What this paper adds: Outliers develop L2 English reading proficiency due to informal digital technology use.Three different outlier profiles are identified: Gamers, Surfers, and Social Media Users.Most online Gamers also read printed novels voluntarily outside the classroom. Implications of study findings for practitioners: Teachers should bridge English use in the classroom with young people's voluntary use of digital technology.Young people might profit from experiencing a bridging of virtual and physical realities.Their use of digital texts might extend to texts in school, which could help develop L2 reading proficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]