Girls and Boys as Victims: Social Workers' Approaches to Children Exposed to Violence

This article explores what notions of the child, victim, girlhood and boyhood may mean for social workers' approaches to children 'witnessing' or being exposed to violence. The discussion draws on qualitative interviews with children who have participated in social services' investigations regulated by Swedish family law. The analytical framework combines a care perspective focused on the vulnerable position of children exposed to violence, and a rights/participation perspective focusing on children's agency and rights to participation. Drawing on children's narratives, it is shown how social workers create at least four different victim positions for children in the investigation process: protected victim, invisible victim, unprotected victim and victim with participation. Thereafter, it is discussed how child positions and social work approaches may be linked to a wider cultural context, in particular notions of 'ideal' victims, age and gender. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.