Work

Expert reports: an empirical study of the use of attachment theory in expert assessments in Norwegian child protection cases

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Acknowledged researchers have highlighted the potential pitfalls of using attachment theory to guide decision-making in child protection (CP) cases. This study explores how attachment theory is applied in expert assessments in Norwegian CP decision-making processes, analyzing 285 independent expert reports. Independent experts were mandated to assess the child's attachment quality to the caregiver in one third of the reports. In almost two thirds of the reports, experts weighted the child's attachment quality to the caregiver in their concluding evaluation. Few expert assessments included the employment of attachment measures. When descriptively comparing older and newer reports, there were more newer reports that mandated the experts to assess the child's attachment quality, but fewer newer reports where the experts weighted the child's attachment quality in the concluding evaluation. Our results illustrate that the criticism of an overconfindent use of attachment theory is also relevant for independet expert assessment in CP cases.

Source: Attachment & Human Development

DOI: 10.1080/14616734.2024.2435006

Authors: Hanne Cecilie Braarud, Polly Faith Evans Mcginn, Dag Øystein Nordanger, Øivin Christiansen, Magne Olav Mæhle

Institutions: Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Haukeland University Hospital, NORCE Research AS

Language: English

Topic: Child Welfare and Adoption

Subfield: Safety Research

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Funder: Norges Forskningsråd