Unge aktører i samtaler med sosialarbeidere om forholdet til mor

Abstract

This article focuses on foster-children’s participation and contribution in conversations with their social workers – which roles as actors they are given and which positions they themselves take. The empirical foundation of the article is a set of conversations between social worker and foster-child, as well as follow-up interviews of the participants about these conversations. The informants, six social workers and six foster-children between 12 and 18 years, were gathered from the municipal child protection service. The topic of the conversations is the foster-children’s relationship to their biological mother. While the children are given a relatively thorough and clear role in questions about specific arrangements regarding their contact with mother, this role is much weaker and less clear in questions of the meaning of the relationship with her. The social workers invite the children to participate – and the children respond by participating – in questions of change of arrangements. I do not find equivalent invitations to participate in the question of the meaning of the relationship with mother. However, the children appear as active and reflecting actors also in this question.