Peer-reviewed article
Digitally Mediated Participation as Relational Infrastructure in Child Welfare Practice: A Systematic Review
Karmen Toros, Asgeir Falch‐Eriksen ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view ·Key points
Limitations
Abstract
ABSTRACT Digitally mediated participation is increasingly promoted within child welfare practice as a means of enhancing children's participation in decisions affecting their lives. This systematic review synthesises seven qualitative and mixed‐methods studies published between 2015 and 2024 to examine how digital participation functions within contemporary child welfare. Thematic synthesis identified four interconnected relational mechanisms. Digitally mediated participation restructures the temporal organisation of participation by embedding relational support into everyday life through ongoing, child‐initiated microinteractions. It redistributes interactional power by enabling children to regulate the form, timing and intensity of engagement. It functions as a relational buffer that moderates emotional exposure and supports sustained and more organic engagement. Finally, it stabilises children's evolving self‐understanding by enabling the externalisation, revisiting and refinement of personal narratives over time. It thereby supports children's self‐awareness of their own interest and assists services in reasoning and decision‐making in the child's best interests. These mechanisms position digitally mediated participation as a qualitatively distinct relational infrastructure that reshapes the enactment of children's agency within child welfare practice.