Drawing on a register study of all children aged 7-12 (n=1 764) investigated due to exposure to violence in Stockholm 2019, this paper explores the orientation of the Swedish child welfare services and what this means for investigations regarding and services to children exposed to different forms of violence. Children were clustered into five groups and each group analyzed with binary logistic regressions, in relation to paths of referral, living conditions, family background and type, school grades and contacts with health care. The most common ground for investigation was violence in the family (including intimate partner violence), followed by physical abuse against the child. Children with a non-Swedish background were over-represented in the physically abused group, even when controlling for other variables. Other differences were also found, e.g. regarding paths of referral.