Purpose

Schools can be an arena for age appropriate and objective information about the support families can get from the child protection services (CPS). There is reason to believe that many children have misconceptions about the CPS and are afraid to talk to the social workers who investigates if there is reason to be concerned about a child’s well-being. The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of misconceptions about child protection services (CPS) among school children in Norway.

Method

A questionnaire containing 10 statements that measure children’s misconceptions and attitudes about the CPS was developed and distributed to 215 children aged 11–15 years old (M = 12.2 years).

Results

The results showed that 10.7% of the sample have a misconception about children being removed from their homes by CPS and that 17% of the sample had a negative perception of the CPS in general.

Discussion

The child might wrongfully get the impression that it is at risk of being removed from the parents. Participation in assessment and planning may be challenging for a child under such conditions. Therefore, it is important that adults who work with children are aware that these misconceptions are quite common, also among youth.

Implications

The prevalence of misconceptions about CPS among children in the general population as well as those in contact with CPS indicate a need for age-appropriate information. If such misconceptions are prevented it might be easier for children to reach out for help if they or somebody they know, are subject to abuse or neglect.

中文翻译：

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挪威学童对儿童保护服务的看法

目的

学校可以成为适合年龄的舞台，有关支持家庭可以从儿童保护服务 (CPS) 获得的客观信息。有理由相信，许多儿童对 CPS 有误解，并且害怕与调查是否有理由担心儿童福祉的社会工作者交谈。该研究的目的是调查挪威学童对儿童保护服务 (CPS) 的误解普遍存在。

方法

制定了一份包含 10 项陈述的问卷，用于衡量儿童对 CPS 的误解和态度，并分发给 215 名 11-15 岁的儿童（M = 12.2 岁）。

结果

结果显示，10.7% 的样本对儿童被 CPS 带离家有误解，17% 的样本总体上对 CPS 持负面看法。

讨论

孩子可能会错误地认为自己有被父母带走的风险。在这种情况下，儿童参与评估和规划可能具有挑战性。因此，与儿童一起工作的成年人必须意识到这些误解很常见，在年轻人中也是如此。

影响

在一般人群中以及与 CPS 接触的儿童中普遍存在对 CPS 的误解，这表明需要适合年龄的信息。如果防止这种误解，如果孩子或他们认识的人受到虐待或忽视，他们可能更容易寻求帮助。