Marit Skivenes

Professor

Department of Administration and Organization Theory

Centre for Research on Discretion and Paternalism

E-mailMarit.Skivenes@uib.no
Phone+47 55 58 25 87+47 959 24 979
Visitor Address
Christiesgt. 17

Bergen
Postal Address
Postboks 7802

5020 BERGEN

Skivenes is recognised as a leading expert in the field of child protection systems, with numerous publications in well-regarded journals. She is also a popular lecturer and a widely used expert by the media. Skivenes is the Head of the Centre for Research on Discretion and Paternalism, and the Principal Investigator of several international research projects.

Contact

If you wish to be affiliated with the research centre, please contact prof. Skivenes. Other inquiries should be directed to Barbara Ruiken. Prof. Skivenes is unfortunately not accepting new students at the moment.

Follow Marit Skivenes on Academia, ResearchGate and LinkedIn.

Biography

Skivenes completed her PhD in Political Science at the University of Bergen in 2002. Post PhD, she worked two years as a researcher at the research institute "Fafo" in Oslo.

Later she spent three years at the Centre for Child Welfare at the Faculty of Psychology (UiB), as associate professor and head of the Centre. She then continued to work three years at the Department of Social Education at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL), first as associate professor and later as a professor.

Marit Skivenes is a professor at the Department of Administration and Organization Theory (University of Bergen), appointed in 2012.

Research interests

Theoretical focus:

Argumentation Theory - Deliberative Democracy - Discretion and decision-making in Organizations - Freedom of Speech - Paternalism and Welfare - Political Theory - Quality of Public Administration.

Empirical research themes:

Access to public information, Children's Interests, Child Protection Systems, Child Rights, Decision-Making Proceedings, Migration, Public Debate, Public Policy formation, Transparency, Welfare State Systems, Whistle-Blowing, Wrongdoing in Organizations.

Please examine professor Skivenes projects and publications for elaborations about her research.

Awards and grants

Marit Skivenes was awarded the prestigous ERC Consolidator Grant in 2016 for her research project DISCRETION. Read more about this here.

Marit Skivenes and Katrin Kriz were awarded the ISW prize for best article published in 2015 with the article "Challenges for marginalized minority parents in different welfare systems: Child welfare workers’ perspectives".

Selected publications

Burns, Kenneth; Križ, Katrin; Krutzinna, Jenny; Luhamaa, Katre; Meysen, Thomas; Pösö, Tarja; Segado, Sagrario; Skivenes, Marit; Thoburn, June. 2019. The hidden proceedings - An analysis of accountability of child protection adoption proceedings in eight European jurisdictions. European Journal of Comparative Law and Governance. 6: 339-371. doi: 10.1163/22134514-00604002
Skivenes, Marit; Helland, Hege Beate Stein. 2019. Rapport: Adopsjon som barneverntiltak. Centre for Research on Discretion and Paternalism, Bergen. 303 pages.
Skivenes, Marit; Tonheim, Milfrid. 2018. Improving decision-making in care order proceedings: A multijurisdictional study of court decision-makers' viewpoints. Child & Family Social Work. doi: 10.1111/cfs.12600
Skivenes, Marit; Thoburn, June. 2017. Citizens' views in four jurisdictions on placement policies for maltreated children. Child & Family Social Work. 22: 1472-1479. doi: 10.1111/cfs.12369
Magnussen, Anne-Mette; Skivenes, Marit. 2015. The child´s opinion and position in care order proceedings: an analysis of judiciary discretion in the county boards decision-making. The International Journal of Children's Rights. 23: 705-723. doi: 10.1163/15718182-02304001
Berrick, Jill Duerr; Dickens, Jonathan; Pösö, Tarja; Skivenes, Marit. 2015. Children's involvement in care order decision-making: A cross-country analysis. International Journal of Child Abuse & Neglect. 49: 128-141. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.07.001
Skivenes, Marit; Kriz, Katrin. 2015. Child welfare workers’ perceptions of children’s participation: a comparative study of England, Norway and the United States (California). Child & Family Social Work. 22: 11-22. doi: 10.1111/cfs.12224
Skivenes, Marit; Skramstad, Heidi. 2015. Child welfare workers' views of fathers in risk assessment and planned interventions, a comparison between English and Norwegian workers. Child & Family Social Work. 22: 203-212. doi: 10.1111/cfs.12220
Berrick, Jill Duerr; Peckover, Sue; Pösö, Tarja; Skivenes, Marit. 2015. The formalized framework for decision-making in child protection care orders: A cross-country analysis. Journal of European Social Policy. 25: 366-378. doi: 10.1177/0958928715594540
Skivenes, Marit; Skramstad, Heidi. 2015. The emotional dimension in risk assessment: a cross-country study of the perceptions of child welfare workers in England, Norway and California (United States). The British Journal of Social Work. 45: 809-824. doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bct177
Skivenes, Marit; Stenberg, Hanne. 2013. Risk assessment and domestic violence - how do child welfare workers in three countries assess and substantiate the risk level for a 5-year-old girl? Child & Family Social Work. 20: 424-436. doi: 10.1111/cfs.12092
Kriz, Katrin; Skivenes, Marit. 2015. Challenges for marginalized minority parents in different welfare systems: Child welfare workers’ perspectives. International Social Work. 58: 75-87. doi: 10.1177/0020872812456052
Berrick, Jill Duerr; Skivenes, Marit. 2012. Dimensions of high quality foster care: Parenting Plus. Children and Youth Services Review. 34: 1956-1965. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.05.026
Gilbert, N.; Parton, N.; Skivenes, Marit. 2011. Child Protection Systems: International Trends and Emerging Orientations. Oxford University Press. 257 pages. ISBN: 9780199793358.
Skivenes, Marit. 2010. Judging the best interests of children - rational reasoning or subjective presumptions? Acta Sociologica. 53: 339-353. doi: 10.1177/0001699310379142
Archard, David; Skivenes, Marit. 2009. Balancing a Child’s Best Interest and a Child’s Views. The International Journal of Children's Rights. 17: 1-21. doi: 10.1163/157181808X358276

Recent Commentaries in Media

Skivenes M. (2019). Child protection and child centrism – the Grand Chamber case of Strand Lobben and others v. Norway 2019. Strasbourg Observers, 11 October 2019.
Skivenes, M. og Helland, H. (2019). Barns rett til familieliv ("Children's right to family life", in Norwegian). Dagbladet, 23 February 2019.
Skivenes, M. (2018). Hvem har mest innflytelse - Solberg eller NAV-konsulenten? ("Who has the most influence - the Prime Minister or the welfare officer", in Norwegian). Bergens Tidende, 5 June 2018.
Skivenes M. og McEwan-Strand A. (2018). A Child-Centred Court of Human Rights? Strand Lobben v. Norway. Strasbourg Observers, 3 January 2018.
Skivenes, M. (2016). Rettigheter som utfordrer. ("Rights that challenge", in Norwegian). Bergens Tidende, December 1 2016

Marit Skivenes does also regularly publish blog posts at discretion.uib.no

Recent media coverage

Professor: – Norsk barnevern er i front med barns rettigheter. Det kan virke som om vi har fått svi for det. (Professor: - Norwegian child welfare is at the forefront in terms of children´s rights. It seems like we are paying the price for this”, in Norwegian. Aftenposten / Bergens Tidende, 25 November 2019.
De har vært fosterforeldrene til Nora (7) siden hun var ett år. Deres største ønske er å få adoptere henne. Men retten sier nei. (They have been foster parents to Nora (7) since she was 1 years old. Their greatest wish is to adopt her. But the court says no, in Norwegian). Aftenposten, 18 May 2019.
Adopsjon gir bedre levevilkår (Adoption provides better living conditions, in Norwegian). Forskning.no, 9 February 2019.
Too few Norwegian children under protection adopted by foster parents: report. Xinhua News, 6.februar 2019.
Rundt 50 barn i året adopteres av fosterforeldre. Det er altfor få, ifølge ny rapport (Around 50 children are adopted by their foster parents each year. The number is much too low, according to new report, in Norwegian). Aftenposten, 5 February 2019.
Hva skal til for at barnevernet tar et nyfødt barn fra mor? (What are the requirements for the child protection services to remove a newborn child from its mother?, in Norwegian). Forskning.no, 7 February 2018.
Hatet mot barnevernet (The hatred against child protection services, in Norwegian). Bergens Tidende, 3 June 2017.
Statens rolle overfor familien (The government’s role in family life, in Norwegian). Dagen, 16 May 2017.
Forsker på omsorgsovertakelser (Researching on child protection care orders, in Norwegian). Fontene, 15 February 2017.
Fikk 18 millioner kroner i stipend (Received 18 million norwegian kroner in scholarship, in Norwegian). Bergens Tidende, 15 December 2016.
Pecha Kucha: Statlig overgrep eller barnevern (Pecha Kucha: Governmental violation or protection of children? in Norwegian). Aftenposten, 7 December 2016.

Keynote speaker (selected)

«Do we still trust barnevernet - and should we?» UiB Innsikt. 12-09-2020.
Key note speaker at the 3rd Annual International ERCPAMM Seminar “Research, social policy and action with migrant minors”, Title: «Children across borders: Rights and policies», Melilla, Spain; 2018-04-25 to 2018-04-27.
Key note speaker at the conference “Unaccompanied minors across borders: Main social and political issues for their protection”. Title: “Discrimination of unaccompanied asylum seeking minors”, Melilla, Spain; 2017-04-25
Keynote speaker at the 8^th ESFR Conference “Changing Family Relations – Gender and Generations”; 2016-08-31 – 2016-09-03. Dortmund, Germany.
Keynote speaker at the Nordic Congress on Child Welfare; 2015-08-26 - 2015-08-28. Turku, Finland.

For full overview of media contributions, presentations and publications, please visit the Cristin database.

Prof. Skivenes is unfortunately not accepting new students at the moment. Students who wish to be affiliated with any of her projects are welcome to send an email to marit.skivenes@uib.no.

PhD-students under supervision

Barbara Ruiken, projct (UiB): Understanding risk and protective factors in child's best interest decisions
Hege B. Helland, project (UiB) : Adoption in child protection
Audun Løvlie, project (UiB): Accepting Care Orders: Expertise as premise-provider
Irene Aase Kvåle, project (HVL): Priorities in Child Protection and Health Services
Ida B. Juhasz, prosjekt (UiB): Removals of new-borns in Norway and England
Øyvind S. Tefre, prosjekt (UiB): Between public and private responsibility for children
Line Sørsdal, prosjekt (UiB): Decision Making about best interests

Master's students under supervision:

Camilla Engebråten (UiB) and Tanja Maria Gummedal (UiB).

Courses

AORG 907 Introduction to Systematic Review and the use of SR in Social Science
AORG 350 Master's thesis in Administration and Organization Theory
AORG 332 Research design
AORG 325 Discretion and paternalism
AORG 250 Bachelor’s Thesis (2013 - 2017)
AORG 104 Political Theory and Democratic Governance (2013 - 2014)
AORG 100 Introductory Course in Administration and Organization Theory (2013 - 2014)

Academic article

2020. Judging parental competence: A cross‐country analysis of judicial decision makers' written assessment of mothers' parenting capacities in newborn removal cases. Child & Family Social Work. 1-11.
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2020. Family Life for Children in State Care. An Analysis of the European Court of Human Rights’ Reasoning on Adoption Without Consent. The International Journal of Children's Rights.
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2020. Children’s Capacities and Role in Matters of Great Significance for Them. The International Journal of Children's Rights. 632-665.
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2020. Child welfare removal of infants: Exploring policies and principles for decision-making in Nordic countries. Children and Youth Services Review.
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2020. Are child protection workers and judges in alignment with citizens when considering interventions into a family? A cross-country study of four jurisdictions. Children and Youth Services Review.
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2020. Adoption or public care? Views on adoption as a child protection measure. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning. 124-139.
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2019. The hidden proceedings - An analysis of accountability of child protection adoption proceedings in eight European jurisdictions. European Journal of Comparative Law and Governance. 339-371.
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2019. Children’s and parents’ involvement in care order proceedings: a cross-national comparison of judicial decision-makers’ views and experiences. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law. 188-204.
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2018. International Perspectives on Child-responsive Courts. The International Journal of Children's Rights. 251-277.
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2018. Improving decision-making in care order proceedings: A multijurisdictional study of court decision-makers' viewpoints. Child & Family Social Work.
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2017. The role and function of spokesperson in care order proceedings: A cross-country study in Finland and Norway. Children and Youth Services Review. 8-16.
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2017. Social Workers and Independent Experts in Child Protection Decision Making: Messages from an Intercountry Comparative Study. The British Journal of Social Work. 1024-1042.
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2017. Parents' involvement in care order decisions: a cross-country study of front-line practice. Child & Family Social Work. 626-637.
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2017. Citizens' views in four jurisdictions on placement policies for maltreated children. Child & Family Social Work. 1472-1479.
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2017. Care order templates as institutional scripts in child protection: A cross-system analysis. Children and Youth Services Review. 40-47.
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2017. Are there population biases against migrant children? An experimental analysis of attitudes towards corporal punishment in Austria, Norway and Spain. Children and Youth Services Review. 151-157.
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2017. A Cross-Country Comparison of Child Welfare Systems and Workers' Responses to Children Appearing to be at Risk or in Need of Help. Child Abuse Review http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/%28ISSN%291099-0852. 305-319.
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2016. Whistleblowing in local government: an empirical study of contact patterns and whistleblowing in 20 Norwegian municipalities. Scandinavian Political Studies. 264-289.
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2016. Time, institutional support, and quality of decision making in child protection: a cross-country analysis. Human service organizations, management, leadership & governance. 451-468.
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2016. The population's confidence in the child protection system - A survey study of England, Finland, Norway and the United States (California). Social Policy & Administration. 1330-1347.
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2016. Pathways to permanence in England and Norway: A critical analysis of documents and data. Children and Youth Services Review. 152-160.
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2016. Improving the care order decision-making processes: viewpoints of child welfare workers in four countries. Human service organizations, management, leadership & governance. 107-117.
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2016. Deliberative decision-making on the Norwegian County Social Welfare Board The experiences of expert and lay members. Journal of Public Child Welfare. 108-132.
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2016. Child welfare workers’ experiences of obstacles in care order preparation: a cross-country comparison. European Journal of Social Work. 100-113.
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2015. The formalized framework for decision-making in child protection care orders: A cross-country analysis. Journal of European Social Policy. 366-378.
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2015. The emotional dimension in risk assessment: a cross-country study of the perceptions of child welfare workers in England, Norway and California (United States). The British Journal of Social Work. 809-824.
Show author(s)
2015. The child´s opinion and position in care order proceedings: an analysis of judiciary discretion in the county boards decision-making. The International Journal of Children's Rights. 705 -723.
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2015. Handlingsrommet for barns deltagelse i barnevernssaker. Tidsskrift for velferdsforskning. 48-60.
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2015. Explaining whistle blowing processes in the Norwegian labour market: Between individual power resources and institutional arrangement. Economic and Industrial Democracy: an international journal. 119-143.
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2015. Children's involvement in care order decision-making: A cross-country analysis. International Journal of Child Abuse & Neglect. 128-141.
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2015. Child welfare workers’ perceptions of children’s participation: a comparative study of England, Norway and the United States (California). Child & Family Social Work. 11-22.
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2015. Child welfare workers' views of fathers in risk assessment and planned interventions, a comparison between English and Norwegian workers. Child & Family Social Work. 203-212.
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2015. Challenges for marginalized minority parents in different welfare systems: Child welfare workers’ perspectives. International Social Work. 75-87.
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2014. Street-level policy aims of child welfare workers in England, Norway and the United States: An exploratory study. Children and Youth Services Review. 71-78.
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2014. Child protection systems within the Danish, Finnish and Norwegian welfare states-time for a child centric approach? European Journal of Social Work. 475-490.
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2013. Systemic differences in views on risk: A comparative case vignette study of risk assessment in England, Norway and the United States (California). Children and Youth Services Review. 1862-1870.
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2013. Risk assessment and domestic violence - how do child welfare workers in three countries assess and substantiate the risk level for a 5-year-old girl? Child & Family Social Work. 424-436.
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2013. Is the type of misconduct decisive for the perceived legitimacy of whistleblowing? A study of municipal managers’ assessments of whistleblowing in cases of harassment and corruption. E-Journal of International and Comparative Labour Studies. 50-65.
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2013. Fostering in the welfare states of the US and Norway. Journal of European Social Policy. 423-436.
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2012. How child welfare workers perceive their work with undocumented immigrant families: An explorative study of challenges and coping strategies. Children and Youth Services Review. 790-797.
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2012. Dimensions of high quality foster care: Parenting Plus. Children and Youth Services Review. 1956-1965.
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2012. Child-centric or family focused? A study of child welfare workers’ perceptions of ethnic minority children in England and Norway. Child & Family Social Work. 448-457.
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2012. Adoption in the child welfare system - A cross-country analysis of child welfare workers' recommendations for or against adoption. Children and Youth Services Review. 2220-2228.
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2011. How child welfare workers view their work with racial and ethnic minority families: The United States in contrast to England and Norway. Children and Youth Services Review. 1866-1874.
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2010. ”Knowing our society” and “fighting against prejudices”: How child welfare workers in Norway and England perceive the challenges of minority parents. The British Journal of Social Work. 2634-2651.
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2010. When whistle-blowing works: The Norwegian case. Human Relations. 1071-1097.
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2010. Lost in Translation: How Child Welfare Workers in Norway and England Experience Language Difficulties when Working with Minority Ethnic Families. The British Journal of Social Work. 1353-1367.
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2010. Judging the best interests of children - rational reasoning or subjective presumptions? Acta Sociologica. 339-353.
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2010. Deciding best interests: general principles and the cases of Norway and the UK. Journal of Children's Services. 43-54.
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2010. 'We have very different positions on some issues': how child welfare workers in Norway and England bridge cultural differences when communicating with ethnic minority families. European Journal of Social Work. 3-18.
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2010. 'Knowing Our Society' and 'Fighting Against Prejudices': How Child Welfare Workers in Norway and England Perceive the Challenges of Minority Parents. The British Journal of Social Work. 2634-2651.
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2009. Kontakt med biologisk familie etter adopsjon i barnevernet - til barnets beste? Tidsskrift for familierett, arverett og barnevernrettslige spørsmål. 135-154.
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2009. Hearing the child. Child & Family Social Work. 391-399.
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2009. Balancing a Child’s Best Interest and a Child’s Views. The International Journal of Children's Rights. 1-21.
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2008. “New Public Management and Whistle Blowing.”. Tidsskriftet Politik. 82-95.
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2008. New Public Managment og varsling. Tidsskriftet Politik. 82-95.
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2006. A Child perspective and participation for children. Children, Youth and Environments. 10-29.
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2005. Core Groups and Child Protection - a forum for collaboration and legitimate decision-making. Child & Family Social Work.
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2005. Collaboration between service users and professionals: Legitimate decisions in child protection - a Norwegian model. Child & Family Social Work. 9.
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2004. Kritikkstandarder og lovgivning. Kritisk juss.
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2004. Grensen mellom det private og det offentlige i barnevernet. Tidsskrift for velferdsforskning.
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2004. Barn og familieråd. En analyse av det organisatoriske rammeverket for barns medvirkning i barnevernet. Tidsskrift for velferdsforskning. 213-228.
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2003. Biologi og barnets beste i barneverntjenesteloven. Retfærd. Nordisk Juridisk Tidsskrift.
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2001. Demokratisk beslutningsforberedelser. Nordisk Administrativt Tidsskrift.
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Lecture

2019. Rettssikkerhet for barn i barnevernssaker i nemnd og domstol. Hvilke muligheter finnes?
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2019. Hvordan kan fagfolk forstå barn og ta et barneperspektiv?
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2019. Adopsjon som barneverntiltak.
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2019. Adopsjon som barnevernstiltak – lansering av forskningsrapport.
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2018. Tid for barneperspektiver!
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2018. Nytenkning om faglighet og bruk av skjønn i barnevernet.
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2018. Adopsjon til barnets beste.
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Academic lecture

2020. Free to Fail? Paternalistic Preferences in the U.S.
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2019. The Child’s Right to Family Life. An analysis of the European Court of Human Rights’ reasoning on adoption without consent.
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2019. Justifying the Child’s Best Interest - A Comparison of Court Decisions in Norwegian Child Protection Cases of Violence in Migrant and Non-Migrant Families.
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2018. Perceptions of risk, need, and neglect: A cross-country comparison.
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2018. Justifying a child’s best interest - A comparison of court decisions in Norwegian child protection cases of violence in migrant and non-migrant families.
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2018. Justifying Removals of Newborn Babies: A Cross-Country Analysis of Judiciary Decision Makers Reasoning of Parental Capacities .
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2018. In the Best Interest of the Child – An Analysis of Judgments on Involuntary Adoption in the Norwegian Judicial System.
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2018. European Court of Human Rights Directions on Newborn Removals.
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2018. Children across borders: Rights and policies.
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2018. Child protection removals of newborns: Policy and practice.
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2017. Workshop ERC funded project "DISCRETION".
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2017. Workshop.
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2017. Workshop.
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2017. Research meeting with the research team for "Legitimacy and fallibility in child welfare services".
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2017. Nytenkende forskning på barns beste i barnevernet.
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2017. Medvirkning som sentralt for gode beslutningsprosesser.
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2017. Launch of ERC funded project "DISCRETION" at Bergen Exchanges 2017.
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2017. International perspectives on children’s involvement in child protection court cases.
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2017. How can we improve our understanding of the mechanisms in discretionary decision-making?
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2017. Er norsk barnevern dårligere enn andre lands barnevern? .
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2017. Discrimination of unaccompanied asylum seeking minors.
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2017. Discretion, children’s and parents’ involvement in decision-making and the role of the court – key findings in a cross-country context .
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2017. Child Welfare Policy & Practice in Norway: A child-centric approach .
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2016. Statlig overgrep eller vern av barn?
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2016. Norsk barnevern – utvikling i et internasjonalt perspektiv.
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2016. Launch of the book "Child Welfare Removals by the State" and the research group Child rights unit.
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2016. Discrimination due to migrant background? A study of the populations in 3 countries.
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2016. Det norske barnevernets omdømme.
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2016. Child welfare systems and children's participation - are some systems better than others?
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2016. Changing Family Relations – Gender and Generations.
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2015. Tillit og rettssikkerhet i barnevernet.
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2015. The best interests principle in child protection removal cases.
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2015. Kvalitet og legitimitet – et statsvitenskapelig blikk på fylkesnemndenes avgjørelse.
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2015. International Perspectives on Social Work and Judicial Decision Making in Child Protection Cases.
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2015. Internasjonale perspektiver på barnevernet.
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2015. Cross-country perspectives on the Finnish and Norwegian child welfare: how are the good decisions made?
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2015. Children’s participation in child protection – Exit, Voice or Loyalty.
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2014. The Child`s opinion and position in care order proceedings. An analysis of judiciary discretion in the County boards decision making.
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2014. Paths to permanence in England and Norway: evolving policy and the welfare state foundation.
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2014. Decision-making in child protection care orders: A cross-country analysis of practice.
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2014. Children as stakeholders in decision-making: contested issue, diverse practices.
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2014. Child welfare workers’ perceptions of children’s participation: a comparative study of England, Norway and the United States (California).
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2014. Beslutningskvaliteten i omsorgsovertakelser og adopsjon til barnets beste?
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2013. Whistleblowing in Norwegian municipalities - the role of politicians.
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2013. Explaining whistle blowing processes in the Norwegian labour market – power or institutional factors?
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2013. Decision making in child welfare: A cross-country comparison.
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2013. Child welfare systems and migrant families; the Norwegian approach.
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2013. Child orientation – a contested concept or a "wicked problem”?
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2012. Child protection systems – Trends and orientations.
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2012. Adopsjon til barnets beste?
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2004. Ansvarsgrupper i Barneverntjenesten - et forum for samarbeid og legitime beslutninger?
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2003. Employability, partnership and labour displacement among metal workers in the Norwegian shipbuilding industry.
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2003. Core groups in Child Protection - A forum for participation and legitimate decision-making?
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2003. Ansvarsgrupper i barneverntjenesten - et forum for samarbeid og legitime beslutninger?
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Book review

2016. Book Review: International Perspectives and Empirical Findings on Child Participation: From Social Exclusion to Child-Inclusive Policies. Critical Social Policy. 454-456.
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2014. Et grunnlag for debatt - anmeldelse av Knut Halvorsens bok "Fra ide til politikk for en godt samfunn". Fontene. 53.
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2008. En muldvarp i Siemens. Prosa - tidsskrift for skribenter.
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2007. En utypisk varslers historie. Prosa - tidsskrift for skribenter. 40-42.
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2007. Delt bosted for barn. Tidsskrift for velferdsforskning. 274-276.
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Academic anthology/Conference proceedings

2019. Children’s Rights in Norway: An Implementation Paradox? Universitetsforlaget.
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2019. Child Rights and International Discrimination Law: Implementing Article 2 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Routledge.
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2016. Child Welfare Removals by the State. A Cross-Country Analysis of Decision-Making Systems. Oxford University Press.
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2014. Child Welfare Systems and Migrant Children - A Cross Country Study of Policies and Practice. Oxford University Press.
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2011. Child Protection Systems: International Trends and Emerging Orientations. Oxford University Press.
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Open Access Publications:

Breen, C., Krutzinna, J., Luhamaa, K., & Skivenes, M. (2020). Family Life for Children in State Care. The International Journal of Children’s Rights.
Krutzinna & Skivenes (2020). Judging parental competence: A cross-country analysis of judicial decision makers’ written assessment of mothers’ parenting capacities in newborn removal cases. Child & family social work.
McEwan-Strand, A., & Skivenes, M. (2020). Children’s Capacities and Role in Matters of Great Significance for Them. The International Journal of Children’s Rights.
Burns, Kriz, Krutzinna, Luhamaa, Meysen, Pösö, Segado, Skivenes & Thoburn. 2019. The Hidden Proceedings – An Analysis of Accountability of Child Protection Adoption Proceedings in Eight European Jurisdictions. European Journal of Comparative Law and Governance.
Skivenes, Marit; Helland, Hege Beate Stein. 2019. Rapport: Adopsjon som barneverntiltak. Centre for Research on Discretion and Paternalism, Bergen.
Langford, Skivenes & Søvig (eds.). 2019. Child rights in Norway: Measuring Compliance. Universitetsforlaget.
Berrick, Dickens, Pösö & Skivenes. 2018. International Perspectives on Child-responsive Courts. International Journal of Children’s Rights.
Skivenes & Sørsdal. 2018. The Child’s Best Interest Principle across Child Protection Jurisdictions. In Falch-Eriksen, A. & Backe-Hansen, E. (eds.) Human Rights in Child Protection – Implications for Professional Practice and Policy, pp. 59-88. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Skivenes, M. and Thoburn, J. (2016) ‘Pathways to permanence in England and Norway: A critical analysis of documents and data‘, Children and Youth Services Review, 67 (2016), pp. 152-160.
Križ, K. and Skivenes, M. (2014) ‘Street-level policy aims of child welfare workers in England, Norway and the United States: An exploratory study’, Children and Youth Services Review, 40 (2014), pp. 71-78.
Skivenes, M. and Trygstad, S. C. (2013) ‘Is the type of misconduct decisive for the perceived legitimacy of whistleblowing? A study of municipal managers’ assessments of whistleblowing in cases of harassment and corruption’, E-Journal of International and Comparative Labour Studies, 2, pp. 50-65.

Positions

Head of the Centre for Research on Discretion and Paternalism
Chair of the research group DIPA (Discretion and Paternalism
Research leader of Child Rights Unit at Centre on Law and Social Transformation
Representative in the Faculty Board, 2017-2021 (as well as 2013-2017).
Member of the Departments Council, 2017-2021 (as well as 2013-2017).
Steering Committee member of Centre on Law and Social Transformation
Steering Committee member of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Implementing Project (CRC-IP)
Steering Committee member of the Inter-disciplinary Network for Research on Child Welfare Proceedings and Decision-Making
Co-director of CEIPAMM (Centro Europeo de Investigación. Políticas y Acción Para Los Menores y La Migración)
Member of the working group for the Quality in Research Strategy at UiB
Leader of the working group for research in the Government's Barnunge21 strategy

The Pro Bono Group

The pro bono group conducts research on children's rights. Pro bono is a latin phrase for professional work and research undertaken voluntarily without payment and for the benefit of the public good. We believe that working for children and young individual’s rights is a particularly important social responsibility. Professor Marit Skivenes is the principal investigator and chair of the group.

Volunteers

Do you wish to volunteer for the The Child Rights Unit at Centre on Law and Social Transformation?

Please contact professor Marit Skivenes.

ERC-grant: DISCRETION

Professor Marit Skivenes is awarded an European Research Council (ERC) Frontier Research Grant for the research project DISCRETION to consolidate her research ideas and thinking around core themes in social sciences about the governments use of power towards its citizens, and the justifications of state interventions into peoples lives. The ERC sole evaluation criterion is scientific excellence of researcher and research proposal.

The full title of the project is “Discretion and the child’s best interests in child protection”, and it aims to unlock the black box of discretionary decision-making in child protection cases by a comparative-empirical study of how discretionary decisions are made and justified in the best interests of the child.

There are huge research gaps in this important area of the welfare state, with a great deal of uncertainty concerning how, when and why discretionary decisions about the child’s best interests are different between decision- makers within and between child protection systems.

Read more here: www.discretion.uib.no

Current projects:

Principal Investigator for the research project Cross-national Experiences of Foster Care" (UiB/UC Berkeley). Finanisert av Peder Sather Grant Program. 2020-2021.
Principal investigator for the research project "Legitimacy Challenges: An analysis of mistrust in core institutions and the normative fundament of the welfare state" (University of Bergen). Funded by the Norwegian Research Council (VAM). 2020 - 2025.
Principal investigator for the research project "Discretion and the Child's Best Interest" (University of Bergen). Funded by the European Research Council (Consolidator Grant). 2017-2021.
Principal investigator for the research project "The Acceptability of Child Protection Interventions: A Cross-Country Analysis" (University of Bergen). Funded by the Norwegian Research Council (FRIHUMSAM). 2017-2021.
Team leader for the research project "Cosmopolitan Turn and Democratic Sentiments: The Case of Child Protection Services" (Gabriel Bădescu, Asgeir Falch-Eriksen, Marit Skivenes) (Babeş-Bolyai University). Funded by the EEA and Norway Grants – Romania. 2019-2023.
Member of the core group in the research project "Understanding Paternalism" together with Alexander Cappelen and Bertil Tungodden (The Choice Lab, Norwegian School of Economics). Funded by the Norwegian Research Council (FRIPRO)
Volume co-author (together with Jill Berrick and Neil Gilbert) on "Handbook on Comparative Child Welfare Policy» as part of the Oxford University Press International Social Policy Library. 2016-2019.

Previous projects

Principal Investigator with Jill Berrick for the research project "Citizens’ views of child protection and the state: Welfare state theory, values, and risk" (UiB/UC Berkeley). Funded by the Peder Sather Grant Program. 2019-2020.Principal Investigator for the PRO BONO group research project on the implementation of "Mit Liv" (UiB). 2016-2019.
Principal Investigator for the research project «Adoption as a Child Welfare Measure» (Adopsjon som et barneverntiltak, in Norwegian) (Marit Skivenes, Hege Helland, Øyvind Tefre), The Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs. 2016-2018.
Book project: "Children´s participation in child protection - street level bureaucrats exercise of discretion" (Marit Skivenes, Katrin Kriz). 2016-2018.
Principal investigator in the research project “Legitimacy and Fallibility in Child Welfare Services – A Cross-Country Study of Decision-Making” (Marit Skivenes, Tarja Pösö, Jill Berrick, Jonathan Dickens, Anne-Mette Magnussen, Line Sørsdal), The Norwegian Research Council (VAM) 2012- june 2017.*
Organizer of the fourth "Colloquium on the United Nations Covention on the Rights of the Child Implementation Project (CRC-IP)" together with Karl Harald Søvig. Funded by the Norwegian Research Council (VAM). April 2017.
Principal Investigator for the research project “The Norwegian Child Welfare System in a Comparative Perspective" (Marit Skivenes, Katrin Kriz, Heidi Skramstad, Øyvind Tefre, Milfrid Tonheim), The Norwegian Research Council (FRISAM) 2010- may 2017.
Book project: Co-editor (Together with Malcolm Langford and Karl Harald Søvig) "Measuring Child Rights in Norway". Universitetsforlaget. 2016-2017

Fields of competence

Argumentation theory

Child Protection

Child Welfare Systems

Decision-making

Deliberative Democracy

Discretion

Paternalism

Political Theory

Public administration

Whistle-Blowing