Staging a caring atmosphere: Child-friendliness in barnahus as a multidimensional phenomenon

Abstract

This chapter explores the aesthetic-material dimension of the Barnahus model as an integral part of its child-friendliness. The analysis has a background in discussions at the European level of the importance of child-friendly justice and the role of child-friendly premises in this respect. The chapter aims to further the scholarly debate about what child-friendliness means in the Barnahus context. Two types of data are analysed: texts produced in the implementation phase of Barnahus in Norway that discuss where Barnahus should be located and how they should be decorated, and survey data from children and adults who have visited Barnahus in Norway for investigative interviews. The chapter concludes that child-friendly premises are important because they acknowledge children in Barnahus as children and not only as victims of abuse. In addition, child-friendly premises is a necessary but not sufficient requirement for achieving a child-friendly-and caring-atmosphere.