Parenting Support and its Different Functions – Parents’ Experiences. A Case Study from Norway

Abstract

The research literature is characterized by a fundamental controversy about what parenting support is and what it aims to be: A health-promotion measure that supports child development or a “totalizing tendency […] of defining the relation between parents and children in technical terms” (Smeyers, 2010). This paper presents a study from Norway, where parenting support is offered as a “universal”, publicly funded service. It presents and discusses findings based on in-depth interviews with 45 parents from different social (educational, economic) and cultural (migration) backgrounds, focusing on how they perceived the purpose and outcomes of parenting support programs in which they participated. A key finding is that parents with majority backgrounds are less enamoured with the quality and usefulness of provision, and tend instead towards other sources for advice on parenting (primarily their social and familial networks). Many also express scepticism of broad approaches to parenting support provision. In contrast, minority parents lacking “Norwegian” social and familial networks genuinely find the courses valuable, both for their own integration and self-confidence and also the development of their children. The findings help address the need for further research into the effectiveness of parenting support and its potential role in reducing social inequality.

The Effects of Cross-Cultural Relationships on Society

“…Parenting styles between different cultures can differ depending on personal beliefs, Disagreement in parenting styles can also create conflict in relationships. For example, some European countries have normalized smoking while pregnant, however smoking is not as normalized in other countries around the world (Sundsbø, 2022). A couple of European decent and another background, would have disagreeing views about smoking either in front of a child or while pregnant with a child.…”

The state role in civilising childcare – comparing policy intentions with childcare in Brazil and Denmark

“…Emphasising this interaction as a civilising process is a way to show this complexity. The concept of "care," when applied to public childcare policies, is complicated because on the one hand, childcare implies care by people other than parents; however, on the other hand, it has been seen as necessary to interfere with parenting itself (Sundsbø, 2021). Here, the availability of public care is seen as the provision of a service of support for families, aside from any assumptions about parental competence.…”