From voice to influence - a study of how organisation and management shape children's opportunities for influence in decision-making processes
Translated title
Fra stemme til indflydelse - en undersøgelse af, hvordan organisering og ledelse former barnets mulighed for indflydelse i beslutningsprocesser
Authors
Nielsen, Sara Østoft Lindekron ; Vindfeldt, Camilla Maria
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2026
Submitted on
2026-06-10
Abstract
This thesis investigates how organisational structures and management in municipal child and family services shape whether and how children’s right to influence under Section 5(2) of the Danish Child Act (Barnets Lov) is actually realised in decision-making processes. Using a hermeneutic approach and an abductive research strategy, the study is designed as a qualitative case study of two Danish municipalities, drawing on observations of decision-making meetings, semi-structured interviews with team managers, and focus group interviews with social workers. The analytical framework is inspired by Laura Lundy’s concept of participation and focuses on political and managerial discretion, decision-making processes, and the relationship between children’s voice and actual influence, supplemented by concepts such as views of the child, professional judgement, and institutional judgement. The findings indicate that children’s participation has been strengthened at the organisational level through increased emphasis on child interviews and documentation, leading to more frequent and systematic elicitation of children’s perspectives. However, the transition from voice to genuine influence is weakly supported: the child’s views are not consistently incorporated into the basis for decisions, and the weight given to them largely depends on local organisational structures, managerial priorities, and the individual social worker’s judgement. At the same time, governance tools and documentation requirements mainly support recording that participation has taken place, while influence is far less systematically operationalised, and there is currently no clear case law guiding the application of Section 5(2). This creates a wide space for interpretation in which children’s influence depends on the municipality and the specific caseworker, and in which children are often positioned as informants rather than active participants. The thesis concludes that the child’s right to influence has not yet been systematically realised and remains heavily conditioned by organisational and institutional factors, creating a risk that influence stays a normative ambition rather than a right embedded in everyday practice.
Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan kommunal organisering og ledelse i børne- og familieafdelinger påvirker, om og hvordan barnets ret til indflydelse efter Barnets Lov § 5, stk. 2 reelt bliver omsat i beslutningsprocesser. Med udgangspunkt i en hermeneutisk tilgang og en abduktiv forskningsstrategi gennemføres et kvalitativt casestudie i to danske kommuner baseret på observationer af beslutningsmøder, semistrukturerede interviews med teamledere og fokusgruppeinterviews med socialrådgivere. Analysen er inspireret af Laura Lundys forståelse af børns deltagelse og fokuserer på politisk og ledelsesmæssigt råderum, beslutningsprocesser samt forholdet mellem barnets stemme og barnets faktiske indflydelse, suppleret af begreber om børnesyn, fagligt skøn og institutionel dømmekraft. Resultaterne peger på, at barnets deltagelse er blevet styrket organisatorisk gennem øget fokus på børnesamtaler og dokumentation, hvilket betyder, at børns perspektiver i højere grad indhentes systematisk. Overgangen fra stemme til reel indflydelse er dog svagt understøttet: barnets synspunkter indgår ikke konsekvent i beslutningsgrundlaget, og deres vægt afhænger i høj grad af lokale strukturer, ledelsesmæssige prioriteringer og den enkelte socialrådgivers skøn. Samtidig understøtter styringsmekanismer og dokumentationskrav primært registrering af inddragelse, mens indflydelse ikke er tilsvarende operationaliseret, og der findes endnu ingen klar retspraksis for § 5, stk. 2. Dette skaber et fortolkningsrum, hvor barnets mulighed for indflydelse bliver afhængig af kommune og rådgiver, og hvor barnet ofte positioneres som informant frem for aktiv deltager. Specialet konkluderer, at barnets ret til indflydelse endnu ikke er systematisk realiseret, men i høj grad er betinget af organisatoriske og institutionelle rammer, hvilket indebærer en risiko for, at indflydelse forbliver en normativ ambition frem for en rettighed forankret i praksis.
[This abstract has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project full text]
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