anne kathrine eckbo-fangan: we had lists of mothers we specifically targeted, single mothers or onesith kids from several fathers. poor, sick, unemployed parents, or families without relatives. that is uncles, aunts or grandparents. reporter: in norway, twice as many children are placed in homes and foster families per capita as in germany, for example. the strict child protection rules call for parents who are beyond reproach. in most scandinavian countries, spanking is taboo. this is often where immigrant parents run afoul of local authorities. einar salvesen: this is not scientific; it's a cultural thing that we believe that you should not hit the children in order to learn, while they come from a culture who believes is different, and it's interesting to see on a longitudinal study, if there are differences when they grow up, but we can't say that. reporter: one 15-year-old girl was immobilized by police just because she wanted to stay with her parents. such methods in the name of child welfare have been condemned by norwegian courts. but even so, when foreigners get caught up in