Centre for Research on Children and Young Peoples Vulnerable Institutional Pathways

PATHWAYS research centre studies children and young people’s movements in, between, and out of institutions and services such as the Child Welfare Services, Services for Children and Youth with Disabilities, Health Services for Children and Youth, Correctional Services and the welfare and employment centre. "Vulnerable institutional pathways" refers to children and youths’ exposure to different institutional logics, how they inhabit and escape from institutions and their encounters with services related to life transitions. The centre explores the inter-twining of care and control functions in various institutional settings where professional practices are highly regulated and analyses these from a procedural justice perspective. Through child- and youth-centred research the goal is to generate new knowledge and build practice capacity in supporting and improving children and young people’s institutional experiences. Architecture, design and user participation are central, and the center’s aim is to develop innovative proposals that to a greater extent are adapted to children, young people and their families. PATHWAYS is a research collaboration between VID Specialized University, KRUS, NORCE, NTNU and HIOF. Practice partners are Buf etat east, The Correctional services, Tverrfaglig.no, NAV, NAKU and Salto. Experts by experience are an earlier prisoner and gang member, LBB, User council at Vestfold Probation Office and LUPE.

Employing a comparative, interdisciplinary and cross-professional approach, PATHWAYS undertakes child- and youth-centred research that will generate new knowledge and build practice capacity in supporting and improving children and young people’s institutional experiences within and journeys through Child Welfare Services (CWS), Services for Children and Youth with Disabilities (DS), Health Services for Children and Youth (HS), Correctional Services (CS) and the welfare and employment centre (NAV). The concept of ‘vulnerable institutional pathways’ refers to children’s and young people’s movements in, between and out of institutions and services, involving exposure to different institutional logics, moves between institutions, escape from institutions and vulnerabilities connected to life transitions, e.g., turning 18 years old. PATHWAYS addresses a significant gap in the existing body of knowledge by focusing on cross-institutional experiences targeting the professions of social work, child welfare, social education, nursing, correctional care, and architecture, offering comprehensive insights to address the complex needs of children, young people and their families. Through active collaboration with partners in the practice field, children and youths as ‘experts by experience’ the overarching aim of the centre is to connect the fields of research, education and practice with users in order to develope innovative institutional settings. This comprise physical spaces that promote children and young people’s participation and facilitate the delivery of social work, milieu therapy, milieu work and relational practices that meet children and young people’s needs for care and control. Analytically, PATHWAYS explore the inter-twining of care and control functions in various institutional arenas where professional practices are highly regulated and will analyse these from a procedural justice perspective.