Centre for Research on Discretion and Paternalism

We are pleased to announce that Professor Skivenes, Berrick, and Predoctoral Fellow Pratama have recently participated in the European Scientific Association on Residential and Family Care for Children and Adolescents 2025 Conference in Zagreb.

Read more: discretion.w.uib.no/2025/10/17/d...

@mskivenes.bsky.social @hshelland.bsky.social @mathealo.bsky.social

We are glad to inform you that DIPA Researcher Hege Helland and Post-Doc Mathea Loen have recently participated in the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) General Conference 2025 at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Read more: discretion.w.uib.no/2025/10/07/d...

@hshelland.bsky.social @mskivenes.bsky.social @sirigloppen.bsky.social

When: Thursday, October 16, 2025, 14:00–15:00
Where: Babelstuen, Faculty of Humanities Library, University of Bergen
(Haakon Sheteligs plass 7, 5007 Bergen)

Looking forward to your enthusiasm for hearing and joining the talk!
#childrights #childprotection #Norway #ECtHR

[UPCOMING EVENT]

Join us for the launch of "Child Protection and the European Court of Human Rights: Lessons from Norway in the Development and Contestation of Children’s Rights" and a conversation with the editors Hege Stein Helland, Marit Skivenes & Siri Gloppen

@mskivenes.bsky.social

Read more here: discretion.w.uib.no/2025/09/16/w...

A new study by Jenny Krutzinna, Katre Luhamaa, Tarja Pösö, and Marit Skivenes analyses care order decisions in eight European countries. The findings show that while the future is often mentioned, only a small minority of judgments consider the child’s life as an adult.

NEW ARTICLE: "What about their future? An analysis of child protection systems’ focus on the future of new-born children in care order decisions"

@mskivenes.bsky.social @hshelland.bsky.social @mathealo.bsky.social

We are pleased to announce that researchers from DIPA, Prof. Skivenes, Prof. Berrick, Dr. Helland, & Dr. Loen, have recently participated in the 2025 International Political Science Association (@ipsa.org) World Congress of Political Science, in Seoul.

Read more: discretion.w.uib.no/2025/08/01/d...

[Illustration: ColourBox]

We are glad to share a new publication by our new Postdoctoral Fellow, Mathea Loen (@mathealo.bsky.social), in the journal "Governance". The study analyses European citizens’ attitudes toward public welfare institutions in terms of their compliance.

Read more: discretion.w.uib.no/2025/07/02/n...

(Photo: ColourBox)
#childrenrights #constitution #childrenvisibility

@sirigloppen.bsky.social @mskivenes.bsky.social

Excited to share a new publication by Prof. Berrick, Prof. Gloppen, Dr. Margarido and Prof. Skivenes in the International Journal of Children’s Rights! The study analyses children’s constitutional visibility using constitutional texts (193 countries).

Read more: discretion.w.uib.no/2025/06/25/a...

[Photo by Jenny Guo Strømsnes, UiB]

We are delighted to announce that our PhD Candidate, Mathea Loen (@mathealo.bsky.social), has successfully defended her dissertation, “Protecting Children, Preserving Trust,” and has therefore acquired a PhD from the University of Bergen!

More on her defence: discretion.w.uib.no/2025/06/25/p...

Earlier this month, Professor Marit Skivenes (@mskivenes.bsky.social) was invited to a webinar on Children’s Rights and Participation by the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL)'s NORBARN Research School. Read more here:
discretion.w.uib.no/2025/06/20/p...

(Featured picture: NORBARN)

Hva kjennetegner tillit til barnevern i Europa? Mathea Loen disputerer 20.6.2025 for ph.d.-graden ved Universitetet i Bergen med avhandlingen "Protecting Children, Preserving Trust".

Her dissertation consists of four articles and a comprehensive introduction (“kappe”), and is a part of the CHALLENGES project at DIPA. A press release in Norwegian can be found here:
www.uib.no/nye-doktorgr...

We are thrilled to announce that DIPA's Mathea Loen (@mathealo.bsky.social) will defend her PhD degree at the Department of Government, University of Bergen on June 20, 2025, with the dissertation "Protecting Children, Preserving Trust".

discretion.w.uib.no/2025/06/11/m...

You can also participate digitally! Link is provided in this event page. discretion.w.uib.no/event/rdv-un...

Join us at Bergen Global (@bergenglobal.bsky.social) for the #RDVseminar this Friday, 6 June (9:00 – 10:15 CEST), where Assistant Professor Zalman Rothschild from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law will present a topic titled “(Un)Constitutional Educational Indoctrination”.

Mathea has researched this topic throughout her PhD duration at the centre and will defend her PhD thesis titled “Protecting Children, Preserving Trust: Ensuring Legitimate State Interventions into Families” on Friday, 20 June 2025.

More details will be available soon.

#childprotection #trust

We are excited to announce the publication of our latest blog post, "How can Norwegian child protection preserve trust and protect children? " written by PhD Candidate Mathea Loen (@mathealo.bsky.social). Read the full blog post here: discretion.w.uib.no/2025/05/28/h...

Dilemmas of children’s participation and the role of practice guidelines: the views of judicial decision-makers in Norway Abstract . This study examines how judicial decision-makers in Norway address children’s participation in child welfare cases, focusing on their experience

The full article is #openaccess and can be read here:
academic.oup.com/lawfam/artic...

Read more on this publication from our website:
discretion.w.uib.no/2025/05/12/d...

#decisionmaking #judicialdecision

(Illustration: ColourBox)

We are excited to share a new publication by Post Doc Audun Løvlie (@lovlie.bsky.social) in the International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family. The study analyses how judicial decision-makers in #Norway confront the dilemmas of incorporating #childparticipation in #childwelfare cases.

Seminar poster in Japanese

We are delighted to announce that Prof. Marit Skivenes (@mskivenes.bsky.social), Tarja Pösö, and June Thoburn (@jthobu.bsky.social) are invited to present on "Adoption from Care" book by Research Institute for Children’s Social Care, Waseda University, on 12 May 2025 (Online).

Dilemmas of children’s participation and the role of practice guidelines: the views of judicial decision-makers in Norway Abstract . This study examines how judicial decision-makers in Norway address children’s participation in child welfare cases, focusing on their experience

I am excited to announce my latest paper! It examines judicial decision-makers and their confrontation with dilemmas of children's right to participate. #childrights #childprotection #CPS @discretionuib.bsky.social
#judicialindependence #discretion #decisionmaking
academic.oup.com/lawfam/artic...