TRUST ACROSS BORDERS

The report examines the 'crisis of trust' between migrant families—particularly Polish migrants in Norway—and child welfare services (CWS). It analyzes how institutional structures, communication barriers, and cultural differences influence trust. The authors find that while Norway's CWS is generally child-centric and Poland's is more child-protective, both face challenges in building rapport with minority populations. Key findings highlight that trust is often based on personal experience rather than institutional reputation, and that a lack of cultural competence among social workers can lead to 'culturalization,' where poverty or education gaps are misattributed to cultural flaws. The document concludes that improving trust requires better communication strategies, enhanced cross-cultural training for professionals, and more robust, representative research on migrant experiences.

• Trust between migrants and public institutions is facilitated when migrants are familiar with the institution, can interpret its functions, and can predict its actions with reasonable certainty.
• In Norway, there is a widespread lack of trust in the Child Welfare Services (CWS) among migrants, who report lower trust in CWS than in law enforcement, health care, or education.
• Many migrant parents perceive the Norwegian CWS as a threat, which may prevent them from seeking available counseling, training, or economic assistance.
• The Norwegian CWS is characterized as having a 'child-centric orientation,' whereas the Polish system is categorized as having a 'child protection orientation,' focusing on preventing harm with a higher threshold for intervention.
• A phenomenon called 'culturalization' occurs when social workers attribute a family's challenges to their cultural background while ignoring other factors like poverty or low education, which can hinder trust-building.
• Communication is a primary determinant of trust; however, the CWS is criticized for poor communication of its services to the general public, and many people lack familiarity with how the institution works.
• Psychological and parental competence assessments for migrants may be unethical or discriminatory if they ignore the client's dominant language and cultural background, as these tools are often context-specific.
• There is a significant lack of research specifically examining the relationship between trust and child welfare services among migrants within Poland, as most existing research in Poland focuses on labor migrants from Ukraine.
• High turnover rates among CWS staff and high levels of media controversy contribute to caseworker burnout and can impede the long-term relationship-building necessary for trust.

APA

Korzeniewska, L., Erdal, M. B., Kosakowska-Berezecka, N., & Żadkowska, M. (2019). TRUST ACROSS BORDERS. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/78eb3aff-885e-43bd-8a59-c4cc32a93516/Trust across Borders A Review of the Literature on Trust Migration and Child Welfare Services.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Korzeniewska, Lubomiła, Marta Bivand Erdal, Natasza Kosakowska-Berezecka, and Magdalena Żadkowska. TRUST ACROSS BORDERS. Peace Research Institute Oslo, 2019. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/78eb3aff-885e-43bd-8a59-c4cc32a93516/Trust across Borders A Review of the Literature on Trust Migration and Child Welfare Services.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Korzeniewska |first1=Lubomiła |last2=Erdal |first2=Marta Bivand |last3=Kosakowska-Berezecka |first3=Natasza |last4=Żadkowska |first4=Magdalena |title=TRUST ACROSS BORDERS |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |date=2019 |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/78eb3aff-885e-43bd-8a59-c4cc32a93516/Trust across Borders A Review of the Literature on Trust Migration and Child Welfare Services.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{korzeniewska2019trust, author = {Korzeniewska, Lubomiła and Erdal, Marta Bivand and Kosakowska-Berezecka, Natasza and Żadkowska, Magdalena}, title = {{TRUST ACROSS BORDERS}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {2019}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/78eb3aff-885e-43bd-8a59-c4cc32a93516/Trust across Borders A Review of the Literature on Trust Migration and Child Welfare Services.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }