Understanding a Parent’s Visitation Capacity After a Care Order

Tina Gerdts-Andresen () and Anette Ødegård Eriksen
Additional contact information
Tina Gerdts-Andresen: Faculty of Social Sciences, Oslo Metropolitan University, 0130 Oslo, Norway
Anette Ødegård Eriksen: Child Welfare Service, Municipality of Drammen, 3008 Drammen, Norway

Social Sciences, 2025, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: The ability of parents to maintain visitation with their child after a care order is a complex aspect of child welfare. While visitation is widely recognized as essential for preserving family bonds and supporting potential reunification, less attention has been given to how broader life circumstances influence a parent’s ability to engage in visitation. This study explores how parents describe their life situation after a care order and examines how different contextual factors may relate to their visitation capacity. The study employs thematic analysis based on interviews with 31 parents whose children were placed in public care. The findings reveal that parents face multiple barriers that affect their ability to sustain meaningful contact with their child, including emotional and psychological strain, social isolation and stigma, trust and cooperation challenges, and shifting parent–child relationship dynamics. Many parents described profound distress following the care order, marked by anxiety, grief, and loss of parental identity. Additionally, strained relationships with child welfare professionals, inconsistent expectations, and systemic barriers further complicate their efforts to remain engaged. These findings highlight that visitation capacity is not merely a matter of legal access but is shaped by broader life circumstances, emotional resilience, and institutional support structures.

Keywords: child welfare; visitation capacity; public care; parent–child relationship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/4/221/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/4/221/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:14:y:2025:i:4:p:221-:d:1625945

Access Statistics for this article

Social Sciences is currently edited by Ms. Yvonne Chu

More articles in Social Sciences from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().