Flexibel fyrkantighet möter meningslös skötsamhet

Abstract Every year, over 1,000 children and young people, between the ages of 8 and 20, are placed in special youth homes in Sweden due to criminality, substance abuse or ”other socially destructive behaviour”. This article is based on interviews with youth and staff about what happens at the insti...

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Main Authors: Lina Ponnert, Kerstin Svensson
Format: Article
Language:Danish
Published: De Nordiske Kriminalistforeninger 2023-10-01
Series:Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kriminalvidenskab
Subjects:
Online Access:https://tidsskrift.dk/NTfK/article/view/141476
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author Lina Ponnert
Kerstin Svensson
author_facet Lina Ponnert
Kerstin Svensson
author_sort Lina Ponnert
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Every year, over 1,000 children and young people, between the ages of 8 and 20, are placed in special youth homes in Sweden due to criminality, substance abuse or ”other socially destructive behaviour”. This article is based on interviews with youth and staff about what happens at the institution and how they regard the purpose of the stay in a facility that has the character of a total institution, in Goffman’s understanding. With support in Adam’s theories about time rhythms and Abbott’s concepts of time/event, we analyze how staff and youth cooperate in creating institutional life where they share the space, while having distance from each other and avoid creating closeness as their interaction is limited in time. Due to several parallel time rhythms affecting their everyday life and time at the institution the young people develop an approach between resisting or developing what can be termed as ”meaningless diligence”. Everyday life becomes easier to manage if they follow what the staff say, but they cannot see that it leads to a better future. The staff describe an approach where they are careful both to follow rules and to make constant individual and situational exceptions, a ”flexible rigidity” to fixed rules and time-schedules, to deal with specific events and needs. Together they maintain institutional life and the young people are adapted to the situation here and now, not to the life outside or after the institution.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2446-3051
language Danish
publishDate 2023-10-01
publisher De Nordiske Kriminalistforeninger
record_format Article
series Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kriminalvidenskab
spelling doaj-art-0e02db925ca84e68838bbc6ea5d19cc62025-01-07T13:17:47ZdanDe Nordiske KriminalistforeningerNordisk Tidsskrift for Kriminalvidenskab2446-30512023-10-01110335136710.7146/ntfk.v110i3.141476134882Flexibel fyrkantighet möter meningslös skötsamhetLina PonnertKerstin SvenssonAbstract Every year, over 1,000 children and young people, between the ages of 8 and 20, are placed in special youth homes in Sweden due to criminality, substance abuse or ”other socially destructive behaviour”. This article is based on interviews with youth and staff about what happens at the institution and how they regard the purpose of the stay in a facility that has the character of a total institution, in Goffman’s understanding. With support in Adam’s theories about time rhythms and Abbott’s concepts of time/event, we analyze how staff and youth cooperate in creating institutional life where they share the space, while having distance from each other and avoid creating closeness as their interaction is limited in time. Due to several parallel time rhythms affecting their everyday life and time at the institution the young people develop an approach between resisting or developing what can be termed as ”meaningless diligence”. Everyday life becomes easier to manage if they follow what the staff say, but they cannot see that it leads to a better future. The staff describe an approach where they are careful both to follow rules and to make constant individual and situational exceptions, a ”flexible rigidity” to fixed rules and time-schedules, to deal with specific events and needs. Together they maintain institutional life and the young people are adapted to the situation here and now, not to the life outside or after the institution.https://tidsskrift.dk/NTfK/article/view/141476institutional careinteractiontimeyouth caretotal institutioninstitutionsvårdinteraktiontidungdomsvård
spellingShingle Lina Ponnert
Kerstin Svensson
Flexibel fyrkantighet möter meningslös skötsamhet
Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kriminalvidenskab
institutional care
interaction
time
youth care
total institution
institutionsvård
interaktion
tid
ungdomsvård
title Flexibel fyrkantighet möter meningslös skötsamhet
title_full Flexibel fyrkantighet möter meningslös skötsamhet
title_fullStr Flexibel fyrkantighet möter meningslös skötsamhet
title_full_unstemmed Flexibel fyrkantighet möter meningslös skötsamhet
title_short Flexibel fyrkantighet möter meningslös skötsamhet
title_sort flexibel fyrkantighet moter meningslos skotsamhet
topic institutional care
interaction
time
youth care
total institution
institutionsvård
interaktion
tid
ungdomsvård
url https://tidsskrift.dk/NTfK/article/view/141476
work_keys_str_mv AT linaponnert flexibelfyrkantighetmotermeningslosskotsamhet
AT kerstinsvensson flexibelfyrkantighetmotermeningslosskotsamhet