Samita Wilson
About
I am an Associate Professor of Child Welfare in the Department of Social Work with a reserach profile in Children's Rights, informed by critcial children's rights studies. My research asks how children's rights are experienced, negotiated, protected and denied in diverse welfare, migration, and minority contexts.
I am particularly interested in how rights related to protection, participation, family life, and housing are lived and contested in everyday life, and how these rights shape children’s sense of belonging. Drawing on social anthropology, childhood studies, and social work, I use qualitative and participatory methods to study children’s lived rights, with particular attention to marginalized children, minority children and families, and children on the move. My current research includes work on how young people from South Asian backgrounds understand violence against children, and on how children and families experience housing, identity, and social integration.
My academic background is in Social Anthropology, with an MPhil in Childhood Studies (NTNU) and a PhD in Social Sciences (University of Stavanger). Both degrees focused on the lived experiences and perspectives of children in situations of vulnerability and marginalization, including my doctoral research on Norwegian-Pakistani children’s interactions with Child Protection Services in Norway. Beyond academia, I have a decade of experience working with national and international NGOs in international development and humanitarian contexts, on initiatives related to children’s rights and education, including baseline studies, monitoring and evaluation, and child protection in emergencies. These roles have strengthened my ability to work across cultural contexts and to build trust with children, families, and communities when researching sensitive topics. They continue to shape my commitment to research that is theoretically grounded, ethically attentive, and relevant to practice and policy.
My work aligns closely with several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particulalry those related to children's wellbeing, protection, participation and empowerment.
Research interests
- Child protection systems
- Marginalized children, families and communities
- Children and young people's sense of belonging, identity and social integration
- Children's rights and experiences of ‘lived rights’
- Children on the move and forced migration
- Participatory research methods
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
- Good health and well-being (SDG 3)
- Gender equality (SDG 5)
- Reduced inequalities (SDG 10)
- Peace, justice and strong institutions (SDG 16)
Publications
2025
-
Wilson, Samita;
Cowan, Trudy;
Flynn, Jasmin;
Heaslip, Vanessa.
(2025)
Child Protection and Safeguarding.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Wilson, Samita.
(2025)
Rethinking participation: Exploring children’s power relations and emotions in Child Protection Services.
The British Journal of Social Work
Academic article
2024
-
Abela, Angela;
Devaney, Carmel;
Kojan, Bente Heggem;
Kotzeva, Tatyana;
Arsic, Jelena;
Wilson, Samita.
(2024)
The meaningful participation of children in matters that affect them: Child participation in the context of child protection across five European countries.
Children and Youth Services Review
Academic article
2023
-
Salkauskiene, Ieva;
Wilson, Samita;
Gresdahl, May Kristin;
Juul, Randi Lise.
(2023)
Children’s experiences of collaborative relationship with child welfare and protection professionals in Norway: a state-of-the-art review.
Nordic Social Work Research
Academic article
-
Wilson, Samita;
Hean, Sarah Catherine Patricia Duff;
Abebe, Tatek;
Heaslip, Vanessa;
Smith, Jonathan.
(2023)
The war within: emotional experiences of children in Norwegian child protection services.
Children's Geographies
Academic article
-
Wilson, Samita;
Hean, Sarah Catherine Patricia Duff;
Abebe, Tatek;
Heaslip, Vanessa.
(2023)
Pakistani children's lived experiences of relationships in the context of child protection services in Norway: An interpretative phenomenological analysis.
Children & society
Academic article
2022
-
Gunnarsdottir, Hulda Mjöll;
Wilson, Samita;
Enoksen, Elisabeth.
(2022)
‘Maybe I can go back to school in a few weeks’: Children’s experiences of everyday life during the COVID-19 lockdown in Norway.
Journal of Comparative Social Work
Academic article
2021
-
Alseth, Ann Kristin;
Fævelen, Malin;
Kojan, Bente Heggem;
Røkkum, Nina Helen Aas;
Storhaug, Anita S.;
Wilson, Samita.
(2021)
Norway - National report on Family Support Policy & Provision.
Chapter
2020
-
Wilson, Samita;
Hean, Sarah;
Abebe, Tatek;
Heaslip, Vanessa.
(2020)
Children's experiences with Child Protection Services: A synthesis of qualitative evidence.
Children and Youth Services Review
Academic article
Journal publications
-
Wilson, Samita.
(2025)
Rethinking participation: Exploring children’s power relations and emotions in Child Protection Services.
The British Journal of Social Work
Academic article
-
Abela, Angela;
Devaney, Carmel;
Kojan, Bente Heggem;
Kotzeva, Tatyana;
Arsic, Jelena;
Wilson, Samita.
(2024)
The meaningful participation of children in matters that affect them: Child participation in the context of child protection across five European countries.
Children and Youth Services Review
Academic article
-
Salkauskiene, Ieva;
Wilson, Samita;
Gresdahl, May Kristin;
Juul, Randi Lise.
(2023)
Children’s experiences of collaborative relationship with child welfare and protection professionals in Norway: a state-of-the-art review.
Nordic Social Work Research
Academic article
-
Wilson, Samita;
Hean, Sarah Catherine Patricia Duff;
Abebe, Tatek;
Heaslip, Vanessa;
Smith, Jonathan.
(2023)
The war within: emotional experiences of children in Norwegian child protection services.
Children's Geographies
Academic article
-
Wilson, Samita;
Hean, Sarah Catherine Patricia Duff;
Abebe, Tatek;
Heaslip, Vanessa.
(2023)
Pakistani children's lived experiences of relationships in the context of child protection services in Norway: An interpretative phenomenological analysis.
Children & society
Academic article
-
Gunnarsdottir, Hulda Mjöll;
Wilson, Samita;
Enoksen, Elisabeth.
(2022)
‘Maybe I can go back to school in a few weeks’: Children’s experiences of everyday life during the COVID-19 lockdown in Norway.
Journal of Comparative Social Work
Academic article
-
Wilson, Samita;
Hean, Sarah;
Abebe, Tatek;
Heaslip, Vanessa.
(2020)
Children's experiences with Child Protection Services: A synthesis of qualitative evidence.
Children and Youth Services Review
Academic article
Part of book/report
-
Wilson, Samita;
Cowan, Trudy;
Flynn, Jasmin;
Heaslip, Vanessa.
(2025)
Child Protection and Safeguarding.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Alseth, Ann Kristin;
Fævelen, Malin;
Kojan, Bente Heggem;
Røkkum, Nina Helen Aas;
Storhaug, Anita S.;
Wilson, Samita.
(2021)
Norway - National report on Family Support Policy & Provision.
Chapter
Teaching
Courses
Outreach
2025
-
Academic lectureWilson, Samita. (2025) Viewing children's participation as social and relational, not performative. International Child and Family Conference 17.06.2025 - 19.06.2025
-
Academic lectureJohansen, Kristina; Marlow, Mira Aurora; Wilson, Samita. (2025) Ethics of Protection and Participation in Research with Children and Young People: Dilemmas and Ways forward. BARN ll Conference on "Methodological humility and ethical conundrums. Collaborative explorations in Nordic Childhood Studies , Trondheim 15.08.2025 -
2023
-
Academic lectureWilson, Samita. (2023) Reframing vulnerability: Understanding the role of refugee children as global social actors in Norway. At critical crossroads in Nordic Childhood Studies: 40th Anniversary conference of the Nordic journal BARN , Norway 16.08.2023 - 17.08.2023
-
LectureWilson, Samita. (2023) Betydningen av sosiale relasjoner hos minoritetsbarn i Barnevernet (Importance of social relations for minority children in Child Protection Services). KOMBA - Minority Competence in Child Welfare training program , Trondheim 18.04.2023 -
-
LectureWilson, Samita. (2023) Betydningen av sosiale relasjoner hos minoritetsbarn i Barnevernet. KOMBA - Minority Competence in Child Welfare training program , Molde 20.04.2023 -
2020
-
Academic lecture
-
InterviewWilson, Samita. (2020) Who cares about - experiences of child protection?. https://whocaresaboutresearch.com/episodes/episode-06 https://whocaresaboutresearch.com/episodes/episode-06 [Internet] 11.11.2020
-
Academic lectureWilson, Samita. (2020) Preliminary findings: Lived experiences of Child Protection Services among children from minority background in Norway. IPA research group meeting , Birkbeck University of London 06.03.2020 -
-
Academic lecture
-
LectureWilson, Samita. (2020) Doing research with children from minority background about their lived experiences with Child Protection Services in Norway. Research group seminar 23.10.2020 -
2018
-
Academic lectureWilson, Samita. (2018) Right to protection: Ethnic minority children's experiences of western Child Welfare Services. The impact of children's rights education and research on policy development , Geneva 18.01.2018 - 19.01.2018