Understanding the importance of the physical environment in meetings between children and child welfare workers at the social services – A scoping review

Abstract

Research shows that the physical environment, such as meeting rooms and offices, affects prerequisites and outcomes in various forms of human services. This study focuses on the importance of the physical environment in meetings between child welfare workers and children within the Social Services’ activities. The conduction of the study has been inspired by the framework stages for a scoping review described by Arksey and O’Malley (2005). Results show that there is a clear lack of research on this matter. The small number of studies that do exist emphasize that physical and spatial factors clearly affect how contacts and relationships between welfare workers and children are shaped. Included studies show that spatial factors affect children’s participation in assessments, decisions, and the setup of support. The importance of the professionals’ ability to acknowledge the unique needs and desires of each child while at the same time recognising how to benefit from the physical environment where their meetings take place is stressed. Studies show that there is a trend towards contemporary child welfare work shifting from a focus on relational factors to gathering and dealing with information. In general, this field is under-theorized warranting more research with deeper theoretical aspirations.