Second-Hand Narratives & Institutional Illegitimacy, The Case of Child Protection Services and Norwegian Youth

Distrust toward Child Protection Services (CPS) has primarily been examined among families with direct involvement in child protection systems. Far less attention has been paid to how distrust emerges among young people without prior CPS contact, despite the potential implications for help-seeking, participation, and institutional legitimacy within welfare states. This study examines how ‘ordinary’ Norwegian youth without prior CPS involvement construct perceptions of CPS, focusing on how secondhand narratives, social media portrayals, and limited institutional visibility shape perceptions of CPS legitimacy. The study is based on peer-to-peer interviews with youth conducted in a city district in Oslo. Youth accounts are contextualised through reference to professional perspectives in the same district and to existing research documenting distrust of CPS among some ethnic minority communities in Norway. The study employs a peer-to-peer qualitative research design and a theoretically informed thematic analysis. Drawing on structuration theory and research on social mechanisms, the analysis examines how everyday narratives, mediated representations, and institutional absence interact to produce and circulate institutional anxiety prior to direct experiential contact. The findings indicate that many young people perceive CPS as opaque, punitive, and difficult to approach, despite having no personal experience with the agency. These perceptions are shaped mainly by secondhand stories, rumours, and social media content. Youth express concern about not being heard in potential encounters with CPS and anxiety about abrupt family separation through care orders. These anticipatory concerns resonate with patterns of mistrust previously documented among minority families with direct CPS experience. The study suggests that limited visibility and CPS's preventive engagement in local communities contribute to the consolidation of anticipatory distrust among youth, with potential consequences for collaboration and early support. Trust emerges as an outcome of ongoing relational work. By foregrounding the perspectives of non-institutionalised youth, the study contributes to debates on institutional legitimacy, social citizenship, and participation. It highlights the importance of transparent, youth-oriented communication strategies in child protection practice. • Youth distrust CPS despite having no prior contact with the agency • Second-hand narratives and social media shape anticipatory fear of CPS • CPS is perceived as opaque, punitive, and difficult to approach • Limited preventive visibility may undermine early collaboration with youth