Evidence and risk discourses: Shaping professional practice and families in child protection

Abstract

This theoretical article discusses how specific knowledge regimes have gained increasing influence on the management of welfare services in a Norwegian context. The article argues that a combination of evidence and risk discourses contribute to the shaping of professional practice and families in child protection services. The aim of this article is to show that evidence and risk discourses combined form knowledge regimes as a part of the state’s management tools in modern welfare states. The analysis is drawing on a governmentality perspective and illustrates that the impact of such knowledge management in child care protection may have some rational benefits in organizing social work practice. However, the article concludes that it is also important to reflect on how state management tools shape professional practice and affect the lives of families.