ABSTRACT
This study examines how social workers form knowledge about risk factors related to high-conflict parental separations from a child’s perspective. The data consist of vignette-based interviews with 46 Finnish social workers working in child protection and child and family social work. Our research question was: How do social workers form knowledge about the risk factors presented in vignettes from a child’s perspective? The aim was to deepen the understanding of how risk-related knowledge is formed in high-conflict parental separations with the goal of improving support for children in these situations. The main themes that were constructed by using a qualitative thematic analysis show that social workers form knowledge by the following: (1) identifying emerging risks in the child’s and family’s life situation, (2) acknowledging immediate risk factors for the child and (3) anticipating future risks for the child. The findings underline that knowledge formation on risk factors is contextual, relational and socially constructed, encompassing pre-existing, here-and-now and future risk factors from the child’s perspective. Child-centred knowledge formation concerning risk factors requires social workers’ professional experience and expertise to navigate the complex knowledge and dynamics of high-conflict parental separations.