A Childhood at Refuges. Children with multiple relocations at refuges for abused women

• Published in: Nordic Social Work Research
• Main Author: Selvik, Sabreen
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: The University of Bergen 2018
• Subjects: Norway; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/1956/18740

Domestic violence interrupts the home environment and relations of many families, causing thousands of mothers and children yearly to flee home and seek protection in refuges for abused women.1 Some children may experience several relocations at the same or different refuges and may spend large parts of their childhood in refuges. Little research, if any, has been done on children who experience multiple relocations at refuges. This dissertation contributes to filling a gap in the national and international research literature, as there is no authoritative work on children with repetitive stays at refuges, and gives a voice to this group of children who have been marginalized in research. The dissertation points out some of the main challenges children and adolescents with multiple refuge relocations face as a result of their moves in and out of refuges. It also employs children’s voices to explore their perceptions of their school experiences in Norway while living or relocating at refuges. The first part of this study is based on a scope literature review to map the range and gaps in the literature on this group of children. The review shows major discrepancies across the Nordic countries (Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, and Sweden) regarding which data are collected (if any), how the data are presented for this group of children, and the help and services provided in general for children at refuges. It also identifies three major challenges these children face: their prolonged exposure to domestic violence, disruption of close relationships, and repeated disruptions in school and preschool attendance. According to the available literature on the impact of domestic violence on children, these challenges suggest reasons for concern regarding the possible high risk for these children of developing social and psychosocial difficulties, limited access to resources that can help develop their resilience to violence, and school failure and dropout. The second part is based on a qualitative approach using ...