The research literature is characterized by a fundamental controversy about what parenting support is and what it aims to be: A health-promotion measure that supports child development or a “totalizing tendency […] of defining the relation between parents and children in technical terms” (Smeyers, 2010). This paper presents a study from Norway, where parenting support is offered as a “universal”, publicly funded service. It presents and discusses findings based on in-depth interviews with 45 parents from different social (educational, economic) and cultural (migration) backgrounds, focusing on how they perceived the purpose and outcomes of parenting support programs in which they participated. A key finding is that parents with majority backgrounds are less enamoured with the quality and usefulness of provision, and tend instead towards other sources for advice on parenting (primarily their social and familial networks). Many also express scepticism of broad approaches to parenting support provision. In contrast, minority parents lacking “Norwegian” social and familial networks genuinely find the courses valuable, both for their own integration and self-confidence and also the development of their children. The findings help address the need for further research into the effectiveness of parenting support and its potential role in reducing social inequality.

研究文献的特点是关于育儿支持是什么以及它的目标是什么的根本争论：支持儿童发展的健康促进措施或“用技术术语定义父母与儿童之间关系的总体趋势[...]” （斯迈尔斯，2010 年）。本文介绍了一项来自挪威的研究，该国将育儿支持作为一项“普遍的”公共资助服务提供。它基于对来自不同社会（教育、经济）和文化（移民）背景的 45 位父母的深入访谈，提出并讨论了调查结果，重点关注他们如何看待他们参与的育儿支持计划的目的和结果。一个重要的发现是，具有多数背景的父母不太关心提供的质量和实用性，而倾向于从其他来源寻求育儿建议（主要是他们的社交和家庭网络）。许多人还对提供育儿支持的广泛方法表示怀疑。相比之下，缺乏“挪威”社会和家庭网络的少数族裔父母真正发现这些课程对他们自己的融入和自信以及他们孩子的发展都很有价值。这些发现有助于满足进一步研究育儿支持的有效性及其在减少社会不平等方面的潜在作用的需要。既是为了他们自己的融入和自信，也是为了他们孩子的发展。这些发现有助于满足进一步研究育儿支持的有效性及其在减少社会不平等方面的潜在作用的需要。既是为了他们自己的融入和自信，也是为了他们孩子的发展。这些发现有助于满足进一步研究育儿支持的有效性及其在减少社会不平等方面的潜在作用的需要。