ABSTRACT Placement stability is a central objective in out‐of‐home care, yet many children experience repeated re‐placements. While previous research has largely focused on predictors and outcomes of placement instability, children's own experiences of transient care trajectories remain less explored. This article presents an original thematic synthesis of research on children's experiences of placement instability in out‐of‐home care, drawing on a subset of 31 primary studies identified through a broader scoping review of 194 peer ‐ reviewed articles published between 2014 and 2024. The findings show that children experience placement instability as a profound disruption characterized by loss of relationships, emotional distress, feelings of rejection and limited predictability in everyday life. Repeated moves undermine trust, belonging and relational continuity. Limited access to information and minimal involvement in decision‐making emerged as recurring concerns. Conversely, stable relationships with at least one consistent and supportive adult, alongside meaningful participation, were identified as key protective factors. The findings underline the importance of prioritizing relational continuity, predictable care arrangements and genuine child participation in social work practice aimed at reducing the harmful effects of placement instability.

Based on an analysis of 14 national child welfare policies, the paper explores how relational and cultural continuity are framed in national foster care policies in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, England, Ireland and Scotland, particularly focusing on the implications for children with migrant backgrounds. While most policies tend to recognise the significance of the child’s cultural, ethnic, religious and linguistic background, most appear to lack specific guidance of how to ensure relational and cultural continuity of children when placed in foster care. Overall, we find little specific reference to circumstances of children with migrant backgrounds in the policies. The paper critically discusses four patterns. The first is the policies’ emphasis on relational continuity of children’s adult relationships over peer relationships. Secondly, there seems to be a strong emphasis on the significance of parental contact, with much less attention to contact with family members like siblings, grandparents and other relatives. With one exception, we observe no reference to transnational family relationships. Thirdly, with little attention to cultural variations, the policies appear to presuppose that everyone share the norms and values of the Western and dominant culture. The last pattern points to an apparent dilemma or a difficult balance between attending to the child’s immediate care and safety needs simultaneously as cultural and relational continuity are promoted.

This study explores parents' perspectives on needs for support in family reunification in the context of child welfare in Norway. A cross-national challenge is the breakdown of reunifications, re-entry to out-of-home care and frequent relocations for children. To develop services promoting more successful reunifications, there is a need for knowledge of birthparents' perspectives on the support required in reunifications. Twenty parents participated in individual, semi-structured qualitative interviews. A thematic analysis was conducted, resulting in the development of three themes: (1) We do not trust those people; how can we then accept help from that service? (2) We need guidance to reconnect and money to make ends meet. (3) We need help to mobilize and coordinate a network. The findings reveal that parents express a strong need for follow-up and support before, during and after reunification, although they state that this is not adequately addressed in practice. The study shows how trust in child welfare services is essential in reunification. The discussion focuses on the complexity of needs for help and support and how lack of trust could be a barrier to receiving support. We conclude that there is a need for institutional collaboration and tailormade support before, during and after reunification.

There is a widely recognised disjunction between the policies and practices of inclusive education for minority-language students. Using interview data, we analyse how teachers mediate tensions between their newly arrived refugee youth (NARY) students' aspirations for higher education and limited opportunities to tailor teaching within Norway's unitary educational system. The teachers are sympathetic to their students' struggles with past experiences and with having to adapt quickly to an educational system alien to them and relate to NARYs as 'close strangers'. They see aspirations for higher education in the foreseeable future as unrealistic for most NARYs. Using 'sensemaking' theory as an analytical resource, the teachers can be seen as using a 'biding time' approach, waiting patiently for students to opt for vocational instead of academic education. This makes it difficult for NARY students to make informed decisions about their aspirations, and it suppresses critique of how policy ideals of inclusive education are implemented in practice. Teacher education can be improved with more emphasis on how teachers can support and guide NARYs and involve them in their sensemaking of aspirations. This study also identifies challenges with a single-track unitary educational system, not tailored for individual differences between newly arrived language minority students. Newly arrived refugee youths (NARY) in Norway often aspire to higher education but are restricted by requirements of majority-language skills and country-specific competencies. In this study, we find that teachers typically feel emotionally close to their NARY students, while also seeing them as strangers to education requirements. The teachers manage tensions, from wanting both to be loyal to system requirements and to develop good relationships with NARY students, using a biding time approach: Waiting patiently for opportunities to persuade them to choose vocational training and postpone aspirations for higher education indefinitely, without telling them outright that they see their aspirations as unrealistic. This problem can be confronted by teachers themselves in how they communicate with NARY students and by alterations in teacher training. The study also shows that the unitary single-track education system in Norway is less inclusionary than expected because of limited adaptation of teaching and curricula.

AIMS:We examined the patterns of healthcare utilisation for drug use disorders (DUDs) and charges related to narcotics among young refugees in Norway considering the role of sex, country of origin and condition of arrival (accompanied versus unaccompanied minors). METHODS:Based on national registers, sex-stratified Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios to assess the risk of being charged with a narcotics offence and the use of healthcare services related to DUDs. The sample consisted of 15,068 young refugees and 573,241 young Norwegians born in Norway to two Norwegian-born parents. All of the young people in the sample were born between 1983 and 1994. The follow-up period was from January 2008 to December 2015. RESULTS:Compared with their Norwegian peers, both male and female refugees showed either a similar or lower risk of receiving healthcare for DUDs. However, male refugees showed an increased risk of being charged with a narcotic offence, except those from Afghanistan and the former Yugoslavia. Accompanied male refugees were at a higher risk of being charged, while unaccompanied male refugees showed a lower risk. CONCLUSIONS:Young male refugees generally had a higher risk of being charged for narcotic offences while showing a similar risk of receiving healthcare for DUDs compared to Norwegian-born young people. However, young men from Afghanistan and the former Yugoslavia deviated from this pattern. This may be partially explained by the length of time spent in Norway. The results add support to previous qualitative studies suggesting that punitive drug policies may disproportionately affect men from minority groups. Further research controlling for parental household-level factors is warranted.

Aims: This study aimed at comparing several health outcomes in young adulthood among child refugees who settled in the different immigration and integration policy contexts of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Methods: The study population included refugees born between 1972 and 1997 who immigrated before the age of 18 and settled in the three Nordic countries during 1986–2005. This population was followed up in national registers during 2006–2015 at ages 18–43 years and was compared with native-born majority populations in the same birth cohorts using sex-stratified and age-adjusted regression analyses. Results: Refugee men in Denmark stood out with a consistent pattern of higher risks for mortality, disability/illness pension, psychiatric care and substance misuse relative to native-born majority Danish men, with risk estimates being higher than comparable estimates observed among refugee men in Norway and Sweden. Refugee men in Sweden and Norway also demonstrated increased risks relative to native-born majority population men for inpatient psychiatric care, and in Sweden also for disability/illness pension. With the exception of increased risk for psychotic disorders, outcomes among refugee women were largely similar to or better than those of native-born majority women in all countries. Conclusions: The observed cross-country differences in health indicators among refugees, and the poorer health outcomes of refugee men in Denmark in particular, may be understood in terms of marked differences in Nordic integration policies. However, female refugees in all three countries had better relative health outcomes than refugee men did, suggesting possible sex differentials that warrant further investigation.

I denne artikkelen analyserer vi hvordan unge som lever med intellektuelle funksjonsnedsettelser, erfarer samhandlingen med foreldre og foresatte i overgangen til voksenlivet. Vi har gjennomført tematiske analyser av behandlersamtaler i spesialisthelsetjenestens habiliteringstjeneste, og av individuelle intervjuer med unge. Resultatene viser at de unge ønsker støtte fra foreldre og foresatte, men også at støtten kan gjøre dem mindre selvstendige. I tillegg ønsker de unge å bli anerkjente som verdifulle bidragsytere i familien, noe som påvirker deres selvforståelser og handlinger. De unge erfarer at både de selv og deres foreldre og foresatte ofte velger å tie om gjensidige bekymringer, særlig om seksuelle erfaringer og krenkelser, og om fremtidige konsekvenser av funksjonsnedsettelser. De unges taushet kan forstås som et forsøk på å gi inntrykk av å mestre selvstendige voksenliv, men det hemmer dem også i å få nødvendig støtte. Dette er særlig problematisk for unge som aktivt søker selvstendighet, og er sårbare for å utsettes for vold, seksuell utnyttelse og overgrep. Grensene for hva foreldre og foresatte bør involveres i når de unge søker selvstendige voksenliv, og hva som bør håndteres i tjenestene unge med intellektuelle funksjonsnedsettelser mottar, bør tematiseres både i tjenestene og i fremtidig forskning.

Purpose There is substantial research on the experiences, needs and well-being of unaccompanied refugee adolescents, but less is known about existential aspects of their lives. The purpose of the current study is to explore existential meaning-making among unaccompanied refugee children. Design/methodology/approach The informants in this study are young unaccompanied refugees ( n = 30) living in Norway, and young Norwegians ( n = 46). The authors undertook a secondary analysis of in-depth qualitative refugee interview data and a quantitative analysis of questionnaire data from Norwegian informants. Findings Both the refugee youths and the Norwegian youths expressed that social relationships and connections to others were most important for meaning. Moreover, both groups emphasized the importance of relatedness and generativity, i. e. commitment to worldly affairs beyond one’s immediate needs. The main differences between the two groups were related to the significance attached to religion and to loneliness. Research limitations/implications The comparison between the two groups is only possible to some degree. Secondary analyses have some limitations, as well as strengths. Practical implications The findings may be useful for supporting young refugees, as they provide insights into less-studied aspects of their lives. Originality/value The originality of this study lies in the focus on and broad interpretation of meaning, of secondary data analyses, and of comparisons between youths that are refugees versus non-refugees.

All the Nordic countries have excellent data on the situation of refugee children and youth. This creates unique opportunities for comparison to better understand the links between the socio-econom ...

Unaccompanied refugee minors are vulnerable due to previous and current experiences, yet often resourceful when resettling in a host country. Their experiences of ambivalence and trust in relationships with transnational family, peers and social workers have not been extensively researched. Using a qualitative longitudinal research design, we followed unaccompanied refugee youths during their first two years of resettlement in Norway. In our understanding, they struggled to overcome the tensions of being in-between what they could take for granted in the past and an indeterminate future. The changes the youths described were not initiated by or dependent on social work practice, but they have important implications for such practice. The youths developed capacity to assess trustworthiness of people and institutions, and they exerted more agency in developing new relationships. Our study suggests three interesting implications for social work practice and research: more emphasis should be put on (a) the youths as trust-givers, (b) how the youths assess trustworthiness, and (c) how social service organisations become trustworthy.

Denne artikkelen omhandler språkkartlegging av nyankomne minoritetsspråklige elever i videregående opplæring i Norge. Den tar utgangspunkt i elevenes negative reaksjoner på at norskkompetansen deres skulle kartlegges andreåret på videregående, og undersøker hvordan egenskaper ved selve kartleggingsverktøyet som brukes, og sider ved kartleggingspraksisen ved skolen, kan belyse elevenes opplevelse. Studien som ligger til grunn har et etnografisk design med deltakende observasjon, uformelle samtaler og mer formaliserte intervju som konkrete metoder. Det teoretiske rammeverket er kritisk sosiolingvistisk testteori og -forskning (Shohamy, 2013), og distinksjonen mellom riktighet (eng. «fairness») og rettferdighet (eng. «justice») i kartlegging står særlig sentralt i analysen (McNamara & Ryan, 2011). Analysen viser at elevene reagerer både på konsekvensene og intensjonene med kartlegginga, og opplever den som devaluerende og annengjørende. Videre finner vi at kartlegginga kjennetegnes av mangel på både riktighet og rettferdighet: Det er vesentlige svakheter ved verktøyet når det brukes med denne elevgruppa, og det er vesentlige svakheter ved skolens fortolkning og bruk av kartlegginga. Vi fortolker disse funna som uttrykk for mangler på systemnivå når det gjelder opplæringa for minoritetsspråklige elever, og som uttrykk for selvfølgeliggjorte forståelser av språk og språkopplæring i det norske utdanningssystemet. Diskusjonen fokuserer på hvordan språklige ideologier som enspråklighetsideologi, nativespeakerism (Ortega, 2019) og grafosentrisme (Blommaert, 2004) virker sammen – og på uheldige måter – i denne opplæringskonteksten. Nøkkelord: språkkartlegging, nyankomne elever, språklige ideologier, enspråklighetsideologi, nativespeakerism, grafosentrisme. To feel intellectually attacked: Language Assessment for Newly Arrived Students in Upper Secondary School Abstract This article explores language assessment for newly arrived adolescent students in upper secondary school in Norway. Its starting point is the students’ negative reactions to having their Norwegian skills assessed in the beginning of their second year in upper secondary school, and it highlights aspects of the assessment tool itself and of the school’s assessment practice to illuminate the students’ reactions. The study has an ethnographic design with participant observation, informal conversations and more formalized interviews as concrete methods. Theoretically, it draws on critical sociolinguistic test theory and research (Shohamy, 2013). Following McNamara and Ryan (2011), the distinction between «fairness» and «justice» in language assessment is particularly central in the analysis. The analysis shows that the students react negatively both to the consequences and the intentions of the assessment, experiencing it as both devaluating and othering. Furthermore, we find that the assessment is characterized by lack of both fairness and justice: the assessment tool has severe weaknesses when used with newly arrived language minority students, and the interpretation and use of the assessment results are not in the best interest of the students. We interpret these findings as an expression of systemic shortcomings in the education for language minority students, and as an expression of naturalized perceptions of language competence and second language teaching and learning in the Norwegian education system. The discussion highlights how powerful language ideologies like the monolingual bias, nativespeakerism (Ortega, 2019) and graphocentrism (Blommaert, 2004) work together – and in detrimental ways – in this educational context. Keywords: language assessment, newly arrived students, language ideology, monolingual bias, nativespeakerism, graphocentrism.

Abstract Background The study's aim is to gain more knowledge about what may promote or inhibit young refugees' successful educational and psychosocial transitions in the early resettlement period. Experiences during resettlement can be crucial for young refugees' long-term education and mental health outcomes related to potentially traumatizing experiences before and during their flight, worries about family members and friends who still live in unstable conflict areas, and pre-migration/flight/post-migration stressors. Methods The study applied a qualitative, ethnographically oriented approach, based on semi-structured interviews and observations in five upper secondary schools in four municipalities in Norway. The researchers conducted interviews with 47 young refugees and 46 teachers and other school staff members. Results The findings on educational transitions are related to motivation and mastery, time spent on education, language related issues and teachers diversity competence. The psychosocial findings highlight the impact of refugee students' relationships on wellbeing and functioning in school and outside. Three central dilemmas can be drawn from the findings that school staff can encounter in their work to support young refugee: 1) Seeing the individual and group-level challenges, 2) sustaining motivation vs preparation for future demands, and 3) balancing educational and psychosocial demands. Conclusions The teachers experience dissonance from trying to combine loyalty to the educational system with establishing friendly relationships, being close strangers with students they see as having unrealistic aspirations. They guide them into choosing vocational education, leaving both the teachers and their students in a situation where they see few desirable outcomes of education during resettlement. The reasons for, and potential solutions to this problem can be seen in conjunction both with educational policies and with prevailing norms for student behaviour.

Objectives: Since 2000, approximately 500,000 refugees have settled in the Nordic countries, about a third of them being children and young people. To identify general trends, and to detect gaps in the existing knowledge about the socioeconomic and health status of these young refugees, this review discusses the literature regarding three key areas related to welfare policy: health, education and employment. Methods: A systematic search in PubMed, Scopus, SocINDEX, Sociological Abstracts, Embase and Cochrane, and a search for publications from relevant institutions were undertaken. All publications had to be original quantitative studies published since 1980. The total number of studies identified was 1353, 25 publications were included. Results: Young refugees had poorer mental health than ethnic minority and native-born peers. Mental health problems were related to pre-migration experiences but also to post-migration factors, such as discrimination and poor social support. Refugees performed worse in school than native-born and few progressed to higher education. Experiencing less discrimination and having better Nordic language proficiency was associated with higher educational attainment. A higher proportion of refugees were unemployed or outside the labour force compared with other immigrants and native-born. Assessment instruments varied between studies, making comparisons difficult. Conclusions: The study suggests pre-migration factors but also post-migration conditions such as perceived discrimination, social support and Nordic language proficiency as important factors for the mental health, education and employment outcomes of young refugees in the Nordic countries. Further Nordic comparative research and studies focusing on the relationship between health, education and employment outcomes are needed.

This article presents legal regulations, policy and practice, as well as qualitative research, on several aspects of the implementation of the rights and living conditions of unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors (UAM) in Norway. The total text of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 1989 is incorporated into Norwegian legislation through the Human Rights Act (1999). The Convention’s main principles have also found their way into the Norwegian Constitution in 2014. The Norwegian Immigration Act of 2008 includes several provisions and formulations strengthening the legal position and rights of asylum-seeking children compared with the former Immigration Act 1988. UAM have an adjusted application process and are entitled to support of a legal guardian throughout the application process. They are placed in care or reception centers when waiting to their case to be proceeded. If granted residence permit the minor are settled in a municipality, continuing their education. UAM then will access equal citizen rights. Increased demand for stricter immigration policy in recent years, though, has resulted in a series of changes and new restrictions in law and practice that, at several levels, challenge the intention behind the Immigration Act’s legal safeguards for child refugees, as well as the implementation of the CRC provisions.

I Norge har det siden 1990-årene vært vanlig å tilby kurs og videreutdanninger som skal gjøre profesjonsutøvere bedre i stand til å møte mennesker med en minoritetsetnisk bakgrunn. Fokus på og forståelse for minoriteters kultur blir her tillagt stor betydning og behovet for «kulturkompetanse» etterspørres stadig i profesjonell yrkesutøvelse. Det er imidlertid ikke tydelig hva denne kompetansen skal bygge på. Vårt empiriske utgangspunkt for å diskutere kulturkompetanse i profesjonell yrkesutøvelse er videreutdanningen «Barnevern i et minoritetsperspektiv». Barnevernsarbeidernes uttalte behov for kunnskap, slik dette kommer til uttrykk i en evaluering av videreutdanningen, ligger til grunn for vår diskusjon i artikkelen. Vi diskuterer hva en kulturkompetansetilnærming innebærer i praksis og noen konsekvenser en slik tilnærming kan gi for profesjonell yrkesutøvelse overfor barn og deres foreldre. Vi er spesielt opptatt av hvordan fokus på kulturkompetanse kan bidra til annengjøring og essensialisering, og på denne måten skyggelegge forhold som marginalisering og diskriminering. English abstract Beginning in the 1990s, a number of nations including Norway established various courses and programs of further education focused on helping professionals to become better equipped to meet and to work with ethnic minorities. Many of these programs were launched and initiated by the state as part of major initiatives aimed at facilitating the integration of minorities into society. In Norway, much attention has been focused on the need for welfare professionals to understand the cultures of ethnic minorities. Demands for increasing cultural understanding and cultural competence among professionals working with minority clients have been central in many programs. One key question left unanswered, however, about these and related programs involves determining what is actually meant by cultural competence. Making use of experiential knowledge acquired during many years of teaching about child welfare work with ethnic minorities, we critically explore culture-related notions expressed both as key goals in many programs and as concepts eagerly sought for by social workers in the field. In examining the concepts of cultural competence, central to many of today’s programs for social work education, we wish to focus especially on how these notions impact in various ways on the practices of professionals with minority parents and their children. In so doing, we wish especially to examine whether well-intended culture-related concepts work at cross-purposes to contribute to essentialist, stereotyped and other harmful understandings minimalizing and obscuring racism and related processes marginalizing ethnic minorities in Norwegian society.

How do we do good guesswork at meaning if our informant lives in a secret world? Doing research often includes awkward moments, unforeseen events, and incidents. Here we name some of these "happenstances.'' We suggest that happenstances may offer a solution to the problem of meaning discrepancies: The happenstance is one of those moments that allow the researcher to temporarily bridge into the meanings of his or her informant. We have carried out research on marginal youth. In both of our studies, happenstances have turned interview situations upside down. Here we identify how these unforeseen events provided us with valuable insights into our informants' contexts. We conclude by addressing how these happenstances, though they appear to be a product of pure accident, may become part of a systematic approach in discovering contextual knowledge.