Childrens Advocacy Centres (CACs)

in Sweden
Experiences of parents and children
Bodil Rasmusson
School of Social Work
Lund University
Sweden
e-mail: bodil.rasmusson@soch.lu.se
ISCI Conference, Sidney 2009

Background - CACs
In United States since 1985
At Iceland since 1998
In Norway since 2007
Barnahus in Sweden:
first initiatives 1998 and 2004
- piloting initiated by the Government at 6 sites
2006-2007
- the number is growing

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Objectives and basic Ideas

Child friendly environments
Interdisciplinary collaboration
All professions under one roof
Reduced amount of interviews with children
Higher quality of investigations
Increased numbers of decisions to prosecute
Increased numbers of legal proceedings

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Barnahus in Linkping

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Waiting room Stockholm

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Consultation room Stockholm

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Room for forensic interviews Linkping

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Medical examination room Linkping

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Evaluation of the piloting 2006-2007

Aim
Give voice to children and parents who
have been in contact with or been
directly affected by CACs
(one of the six studies)

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Research questions

Childrens and parents experiences

from meetings with the authorities?
Have the objectives of CACs been
fulfilled from the perspectives of children
and parents?
Who take charge of childrens rights
where and when?

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Methods and sample

Qualitative interviews with
12 children, 8-15 years
22 parents (both perpetrators and
injured parties)
representing all the six sites

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Theoretical frame of reference

Child perspective
- Societys child perspective
- Adults child perspective
- Childrens own perspective
Childrens rights
- Tensions in the law (children vs parents)
- Children as informants, coactors and actors
- The child as an individual and as a member
of a family

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Themes for the interviews

Place and environment
Reception from the staff at CAC
Previous contacts with professional helpers
Information
Experiences of the assessment processes and
the possibilities for support, treatment and help
Good advices

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Results environment and staff

The physical environment and reception
apprehended very positive
Environment too childish according to
teenagers
Negative reactions from children to the video
cameras

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Results information and

understanding of the procedures
Difficult

for younger children to understand the

forensic interviews

Difficulties for parents to understand the

procedures and roles of different professionals
Access to information not always satisfactory

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Results support and treatment

Treatment, support and crisis intervention for
the whole family not always satisfactory
Access to support and treatment dependent
on resources and organisation at each CAC
Suspected perpetrators could feel excluded

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Results support and treatment

Sometimes reasons to talk about agencies
assault on children and families
Number of contacts with professionals could
not always be reduced
Children could be informants, actors and
coactors but are mostly objects for protection

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Voice from a parent

There will be too many authorities. I didnt
understand how serious it was from the
beginning and the consequences. There will
be four different investigations by the police,
social services, child psychiatry and one about
the custody

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Voice from a parent

About meetings with the police at CAC:
It is very fine that it is not at the police station.
Police is something frightening to children, I
am convinced. It is so dramatic.// Good
treatment when you enter the door and that is
important. And then that they dont use
uniforms

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Voice from a girl, 16 years old

About her contact with the social services:
They had no plan for what to do, they just went on. I
felt that they were always in a hurry. They had a lot to
do. When you talk with them they seemed so
stressed. Especially one of them, the other one is a
little bit better, seems a little bit more calm. But it feels
a bit sad. My boyfriend called her but she scolded him
and told him that he shouldnt bother

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Voice from a girl, 15 years old

About the support from the social worker at
CAC:
I hurt myself before and she told me when you get
that feeling, just postpone it and tell yourself that you
can do something else first, take a shower, do your
homework and meet friends. This has been in my
thoughts since then. It has helped me a lot.

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Challenges for CACs

Balancing of different perspectives child,
parents and family separately and together
Inventions in the short and long term
Developing organisations according to the
best interest of the child
And..

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009

Thank you!

Lund university /Faculty of Social Science/School of Social Work/ November 2009