Child and family welfare in indigenous communities

This project is a comparative analysis of family councils and other network-based methods in an indigenous context in Norway and North America.

The project places the family council model in a broader context to see what ideas and experiences underlie the implementation of family councils in child and family welfare. By comparing decision-making and conflict resolution within the framework of family networks and child welfare in different indigenous communities, the goal is to bring forth knowledge for the further development of culturally appropriate and ethically defensible services within the welfare state.

Family councils are part of a tradition of restorative justice. The study will examine how family councils are constructed as a phenomenon and how they relate to the ideologies of empowerment and revitalization of the extended family as a method in Norway and the USA.

Research questions: What promotes and inhibits local-based measures in indigenous communities? What are the differences and similarities between decision-making and conflict resolution in child and family welfare in indigenous communities? Can the family council model contribute to cultural sensitivity in child and family welfare? How is this done? What are the intended goals of knowledge producers regarding network work and local-based measures in Norway and the USA? What experiences are expressed by social workers regarding network work and local-based measures in Norway and the USA?

Project period

May- 2013- may 2017