Skivenes is recognised as a leading expert in the field of child protection systems, with numerous publications in well-regarded journals. She is also a popular lecturer and a widely used expert by the media. Skivenes is the Head of the Centre for Research on Discretion and Paternalism, and the Principal Investigator of several international research projects. Skivenes headed the commission for the Official Norwegian Report on improved quality and legal protection in child protection (2021-2023).

Contact

If you wish to be affiliated with the research centre, please contact prof. Skivenes. Other inquiries should be directed to Barbara Ruiken. Students who would like supervision, discuss the discipline, or be affiliated with one of the research projects, are very welcome to contact prof. Skivenes via email.

• Follow Marit Skivenes on Academia, ResearchGate and LinkedIn. 

Biography

Skivenes completed her PhD in Political Science at the University of Bergen in 2002. Post PhD, she worked two years as a researcher at the research institute "Fafo" in Oslo.

Later she spent three years at the Centre for Child Welfare at the Faculty of Psychology (UiB), as associate professor and head of the Centre. She then continued to work three years at the Department of Social Education at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL), first as associate professor and later as a professor.

Marit Skivenes is a professor at the Department of Government (University of Bergen), appointed in 2012.

Research interests

Theoretical focus:

• Argumentation Theory - Deliberative Democracy - Discretion and decision-making in Organizations - Freedom of Speech - Paternalism and Welfare - Political Theory - Quality of Public Administration.

Empirical research themes: 

• Access to public information, Children's Interests, Child Protection Systems, Child Rights, Decision-Making Proceedings,  Migration, Public Debate, Public Policy formation, Transparency, Welfare State Systems, Whistle-Blowing, Wrongdoing in Organizations.

Please examine professor Skivenes projects and publications for elaborations about her research.

Awards and grants 

Marit Skivenes was awarded the prestigous ERC Consolidator Grant in 2016 for her research project DISCRETION. Read more about this here.

Marit Skivenes and Katrin Kriz were awarded the ISW prize for best article published in 2015 with the article "Challenges for marginalized minority parents in different welfare systems: Child welfare workers’ perspectives".

Skivenes and colleagues present research in blogposts and some of Skivenes´s blogposts are also in Norwegian.

Recent Commentaries in Media

• Skivenes M. (2019). Child protection and child centrism – the Grand Chamber case of Strand Lobben and others v. Norway 2019. Strasbourg Observers, 11 October 2019.
• Skivenes, M. og Helland, H. (2019). Barns rett til familieliv ("Children's right to family life", in Norwegian). Dagbladet, 23 February 2019.
• Skivenes, M. (2018). Hvem har mest innflytelse - Solberg eller NAV-konsulenten? ("Who has the most influence - the Prime Minister or the welfare officer", in Norwegian). Bergens Tidende, 5 June 2018.
• Skivenes M. og McEwan-Strand A. (2018). A Child-Centred Court of Human Rights? Strand Lobben v. Norway. Strasbourg Observers, 3 January 2018.
• Skivenes, M. (2016). Rettigheter som utfordrer. ("Rights that challenge", in Norwegian). Bergens Tidende, December 1 2016

Marit Skivenes does also regularly publish blog posts at discretion.uib.no

Recent media coverage

• Erfaren forsker skal lede ny barnevernsutredning. (Experienced researcher to lead new Official Norwegian Report on child protection) Kommunal rapport, 30. March 2021.
• Barnevernet ber sjeldnere om å ta over omsorgen for barn med tvang. (Child protection services ask less frequently for compulsory care orders) Bergens Tidende, 16. October 2020.
• Ny forskning: Avslører nye lovbrudd. (New research: reveals new violations of the law) Dagbladet, 15. September 2020.
• Advarer mot inspirasjon fra Norge. (Warning against inspiration from Norway) Dagen, 23. May 2020.
• Professor: – Norsk barnevern er i front med barns rettigheter. Det kan virke som om vi har fått svi for det. (Professor: - Norwegian child welfare is at the forefront in terms of children´s rights. It seems like we are paying the price for this”, in Norwegian. Aftenposten / Bergens Tidende, 25 November 2019.
• De har vært fosterforeldrene til Nora (7) siden hun var ett år. Deres største ønske er å få adoptere henne. Men retten sier nei. (They have been foster parents to Nora (7) since she was 1 years old. Their greatest wish is to adopt her. But the court says no, in Norwegian). Aftenposten, 18 May 2019.
• Adopsjon gir bedre levevilkår (Adoption provides better living conditions, in Norwegian). Forskning.no, 9 February 2019.
• Too few Norwegian children under protection adopted by foster parents: report. Xinhua News, 6.februar 2019.
• Rundt 50 barn i året adopteres av fosterforeldre. Det er altfor få, ifølge ny rapport (Around 50 children are adopted by their foster parents each year. The number is much too low, according to new report, in Norwegian). Aftenposten, 5 February 2019.
• Hva skal til for at barnevernet tar et nyfødt barn fra mor? (What are the requirements for the child protection services to remove a newborn child from its mother?, in Norwegian). Forskning.no, 7 February 2018.
• Fikk 18 millioner kroner i stipend (Received 18 million norwegian kroner in scholarship, in Norwegian). Bergens Tidende, 15 December 2016. 

Keynote speaker (selected)

• Keynote speaker at the 15th International EUSARF Conference “All Children, All Families. Promoting Excellence in Child Welfare Research, Policy and Practice”. 2018-10-03 – 2018-10-05. Porto, Portugal
• Keynote speaker at the conference “Decision Making in Child and Adult Protection: Discretion and Dialogue“. 2018-05-31 – 2018-06-02. Basel, Switzerland
• «Do we still trust barnevernet - and should we?» UiB Innsikt. 12-09-2020.
• Key note speaker at the 3rd Annual International ERCPAMM Seminar “Research, social policy and action with migrant minors”, Title: «Children across borders: Rights and policies», Melilla, Spain; 2018-04-25 to 2018-04-27.
• Key note speaker at the conference “Unaccompanied minors across borders: Main social and political issues for their protection”. Title: “Discrimination of unaccompanied asylum seeking minors”, Melilla, Spain; 2017-04-25
• Keynote speaker at the 8^th ESFR Conference “Changing Family Relations – Gender and Generations”; 2016-08-31 – 2016-09-03. Dortmund, Germany.
• Keynote speaker at the Nordic Congress on Child Welfare; 2015-08-26 - 2015-08-28. Turku, Finland.

Recent videos

• Er det norske barnevernet i krise?. (Is Norwegian child protection in crisis?) UiB 19. November 2020
• Child protection in Norway - an international perspective. UiB 19. November 2020

For full overview of media contributions, presentations and publications, please visit the Cristin database.

Students who would like supervision, discuss the discipline, or be affiliated with one of the research projects, are very welcome to contact prof. Skivenes via email.

PhD-students under supervision

• Frøydis Lønborg Haarberg, project (UiB): Addressing the ‘how’ of children’s participation
• Mathea Loen, project (UiB): Legitimacy Challenges: Participation in Public Debate
• Irene Aase Kvåle, project (HVL): Priorities in Child Protection and Health Services

Courses

• GOV350 Master's thesis in Politics and Public Administration (supervisor)
• GOV323 Qualitative Methods (supervisor)
• GOV216 Constitutions, Courts and Politics
• Effects of Lawfare – Courts and law as battlegrounds for social change
• AORG 907 Introduction to Systematic Review and the use of SR in Social Science
• AORG 350 Master's thesis in Administration and Organization Theory
• AORG 332 Research design
• AORG 325 Discretion and paternalism
• AORG 250 Bachelor’s Thesis (2013 - 2017)
• AORG 104 Political Theory and Democratic Governance (2013 - 2014)
• AORG 100 Introductory Course in Administration and Organization Theory (2013 - 2014)

Open Access Publications:

• Skivenes, M., Falch-Eriksen, A., & Hassan, B. (2024). Restricting family life - an examination of citizens' views on state interventions and parental freedom in eight European countries. European Journal of Social Work, 27(3), 490–504
• Berrick, J., Skivenes, M. & Roscoe, J. N. (2023) Public perceptions of child protection, children’s rights, and personal values: An assessment of two states. Children and Youth Service Review, special issue "The Perspective of the Child in Child and Youth welfare"
• Loen, M. & Skivenes, M. (2023). Legitimate child protection interventions and the dimension of confidence: A comparative analysis of the populous views in six European countries. Journal of Social Policy, 1-20. DOI: 10.1017/S004727942300003X
• Skivenes, M. & Benbenishty, R. (2022). Securing permanence for children in care – a cross-country analysis of citizen´s view on adoption versus foster care. Child & Family Social Work 28(2): 432-442
• Helland, H. S., Pedersen, S. H. & Skivenes, M (2022). Comparing population views on state responsibility for children in vulnerable situations – the role of institutional context and socio-demographic characteristics. Journal of Public Child Welfare
• Skivenes, M. & Benbenishty, R. (2022). Populations trust in the child protection system: A cross-country comparison of nine high-income jurisdictions. Journal of European Social Policy 32(4)
• Berrick, J., Skivenes, M. & Roscoe, J. N. (2022). Parental Freedom in the Context of Risk to the Child: Citizens' views of child protection and the state in U.S. and Norway. Journal of Social Policy, 1-22
• Helland, Hege Stein; Pedersen, Siri Hansen; Skivenes, Marit (2022) Comparing population view´s on state responsibility for children in vulnerable situations – the role of institutional context and socio-demographic characteristics. Journal of Public Child Welfare
• Berrick, Jill Duerr; Skivenes, Marit; Roscoe, Joseph N. (2021) Children’s rights and parents’ rights: Popular attitudes about when we privilege one over the other. International Journal of Social Welfare
• Løvlie, A.; Skivenes, M. (2021) Justifying interventions in Norwegian child protection - an analysis of cases of violence in migrant and non-migrant families. Nordic Journal on Law and Society
• Skivenes, Thoburn, J., & Poso, T. (2021). Adoption from Care. International Perspectives on Children’s Rights, Family Preservation and State Intervention. Policy Press
• Skivenes, Marit (2021) Exploring populations view on thresholds and reasons for child protection intervention–comparing England, Norway, Poland and Romania. European Journal of Social Work
• Luhamaa, Katre; McEwan-Strand, Amy; Ruiken, Barbara; Skivenes, Marit; Wingens, Florian A. (2021) Services and support for mothers and newborn babies in vulnerable situations A study of eight European jurisdictions. Children and Youth Services Review
• Breen, C., Krutzinna, J., Luhamaa, K., & Skivenes, M. (2020). Family Life for Children in State Care. The International Journal of Children’s Rights.
• Krutzinna & Skivenes (2020). Judging parental competence: A cross-country analysis of judicial decision makers’ written assessment of mothers’ parenting capacities in newborn removal cases. Child & family social work.
• McEwan-Strand, A., & Skivenes, M. (2020). Children’s Capacities and Role in Matters of Great Significance for Them. The International Journal of Children’s Rights.
• Burns, Kriz, Krutzinna, Luhamaa, Meysen, Pösö, Segado, Skivenes & Thoburn. 2019. The Hidden Proceedings – An Analysis of Accountability of Child Protection Adoption Proceedings in Eight European Jurisdictions. European Journal of Comparative Law and Governance.
• Skivenes, Marit; Helland, Hege Beate Stein. 2019. Rapport: Adopsjon som barneverntiltak. Centre for Research on Discretion and Paternalism, Bergen.
• Langford, Skivenes & Søvig (eds.). 2019. Child rights in Norway: Measuring Compliance. Universitetsforlaget.
• Berrick, Dickens, Pösö & Skivenes. 2018. International Perspectives on Child-responsive Courts. International Journal of Children’s Rights.
• Skivenes & Sørsdal. 2018. The Child’s Best Interest Principle across Child Protection Jurisdictions. In Falch-Eriksen, A. & Backe-Hansen, E. (eds.) Human Rights in Child Protection – Implications for Professional Practice and Policy, pp. 59-88. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Skivenes, M. and Thoburn, J. (2016) ‘Pathways to permanence in England and Norway: A critical analysis of documents and data‘, Children and Youth Services Review, 67 (2016), pp. 152-160.
• Križ, K. and Skivenes, M. (2014) ‘Street-level policy aims of child welfare workers in England, Norway and the United States: An exploratory study’, Children and Youth Services Review, 40 (2014), pp. 71-78.
• Skivenes, M. and Trygstad, S. C. (2013) ‘Is the type of misconduct decisive for the perceived legitimacy of whistleblowing? A study of municipal managers’ assessments of whistleblowing in cases of harassment and corruption’, E-Journal of International and Comparative Labour Studies, 2, pp. 50-65.

ERC-grant: DISCRETION 

Professor Marit Skivenes is awarded an European Research Council (ERC) Frontier Research Grant for the research project DISCRETION to consolidate her research ideas and thinking around core themes in social sciences about the governments use of power towards its citizens, and the justifications of state interventions into peoples lives. The ERC sole evaluation criterion is scientific excellence of researcher and research proposal.

The full title of the project is “Discretion and the child’s best interests in child protection”, and it aims to unlock the black box of discretionary decision-making in child protection cases by a comparative-empirical study of how discretionary decisions are made and justified in the best interests of the child.

There are huge research gaps in this important area of the welfare state, with a great deal of uncertainty concerning how, when and why discretionary decisions about the child’s best interests are different between decision- makers within and between child protection systems.

• Read more here: www.discretion.uib.no

Current projects:

• Principal Investigator for the research project "CPS-WORLD" (University of Bergen). Funded by UiB and the Norwegian Research Council. 2022-2028.
• Principal Investigator for the research project Cross-national Experiences of Foster Care" (UiB/UC Berkeley). Finanisert av Peder Sather Grant Program. 2020-2021.
• Principal investigator for the research project "Legitimacy Challenges: An analysis of mistrust in core institutions and the normative fundament of the welfare state" (University of Bergen). Funded by the Norwegian Research Council (VAM). 2020 - 2025.
• Principal investigator for the research project "Discretion and the Child's Best Interest" (University of Bergen). Funded by the European Research Council (Consolidator Grant). 2017-2021. 
• Principal investigator for the research project "The Acceptability of Child Protection Interventions: A Cross-Country Analysis" (University of Bergen). Funded by the Norwegian Research Council (FRIHUMSAM). 2017-2021.
• Team leader for the research project "Cosmopolitan Turn and Democratic Sentiments: The Case of Child Protection Services" (Gabriel Bădescu, Asgeir Falch-Eriksen, Marit Skivenes) (Babeş-Bolyai University). Funded by the EEA and Norway Grants – Romania. 2019-2023.
• Member of the core group in the research project "Understanding Paternalism"  together with Alexander Cappelen and Bertil Tungodden (The Choice Lab, Norwegian School of Economics). Funded by the Norwegian Research Council (FRIPRO)
• Volume co-author (together with Jill Berrick and Neil Gilbert) on "Handbook on Comparative Child Welfare Policy» as part of the Oxford University Press International Social Policy Library. 2016-2019.

Previous projects

• Principal Investigator with Jill Berrick for the research project "Citizens’ views of child protection and the state: Welfare state theory, values, and risk" (UiB/UC Berkeley). Funded by the Peder Sather Grant Program. 2019-2020.Principal Investigator for the PRO BONO group research project on the implementation of "Mit Liv" (UiB). 2016-2019.
• Principal Investigator for the research project «Adoption as a Child Welfare Measure» (Adopsjon som et barneverntiltak, in Norwegian) (Marit Skivenes, Hege Helland, Øyvind Tefre), The Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs. 2016-2018.
• Book project: "Children´s participation in child protection - street level bureaucrats exercise of discretion" (Marit Skivenes, Katrin Kriz). 2016-2018.
• Principal investigator in the research project “Legitimacy and Fallibility in Child Welfare Services – A Cross-Country Study of Decision-Making” (Marit Skivenes, Tarja Pösö, Jill Berrick, Jonathan Dickens, Anne-Mette Magnussen, Line Sørsdal), The Norwegian Research Council (VAM) 2012- june 2017.*
• Organizer of the fourth "Colloquium on the United Nations Covention on the Rights of the Child Implementation Project (CRC-IP)" together with Karl Harald Søvig. Funded by the Norwegian Research Council (VAM). April 2017.  
• Principal Investigator for the research project “The Norwegian Child Welfare System in a Comparative Perspective" (Marit Skivenes, Katrin Kriz, Heidi Skramstad, Øyvind Tefre, Milfrid Tonheim), The Norwegian Research Council (FRISAM) 2010- may 2017.
• Book project: Co-editor (Together with Malcolm Langford and Karl Harald Søvig) "Measuring Child Rights in Norway". Universitetsforlaget. 2016-2017