Categorization and Stigmatization of Families Whose Children Are Institutionalized. A Danish Case Study
(2021) In Genealogy 5(3).- Abstract
- Stigmatization and labeling in society is one of the challenges that families of institutionalized children face. This research aims to investigate how professionals categorize the children and their families, and how, in turn, the categorization process impacts their daily practice and the relationship with families. The case study was conducted in a local children’s institution in Aalborg, Denmark, following an ethnographic approach that included day-time participant observations, semi-structured interviews with a pedagogue and a family therapist, and a “discovery” exercise with pedagogues. The data were analyzed using the two main concepts of categorization and stigmatization. The results show how professionals categorized parents as... (More)
- Stigmatization and labeling in society is one of the challenges that families of institutionalized children face. This research aims to investigate how professionals categorize the children and their families, and how, in turn, the categorization process impacts their daily practice and the relationship with families. The case study was conducted in a local children’s institution in Aalborg, Denmark, following an ethnographic approach that included day-time participant observations, semi-structured interviews with a pedagogue and a family therapist, and a “discovery” exercise with pedagogues. The data were analyzed using the two main concepts of categorization and stigmatization. The results show how professionals categorized parents as “resourceful” and “non-resourceful,” causing barriers in their work with the families. Categorization based on “resourceful parent” is a co-constitutive process influenced by the interactions between the Danish system (macro level), the institutional field in which public and private actors operate (meso level), and the everyday interventions of practitioners (micro level). Overall, the process of categorization and labeling shapes the collaboration between professionals and parents, which leads to an overemphasis of particular family traits, with a direct link to the “myth of meritocracy.” (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/5051bd13-e821-4126-839c-13acc9e52e08
- author
- Acosta-Jiménez, María Alejandra ; Antonios, Anna Maria ; Meijer, Veerle and Di Matteo, Claudia LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021-08-19
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- categorization, stigmatization, critical social work, practice theory, institutional logic
- in
- Genealogy
- volume
- 5
- issue
- 3
- article number
- 76
- pages
- 22 pages
- publisher
- MDPI AG
- ISSN
- 2313-5778
- DOI
- 10.3390/genealogy5030076
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- This article belongs to the Special Issue The Relationship between Children, Parents and the Welfare State
- id
- 5051bd13-e821-4126-839c-13acc9e52e08
- date added to LUP
- 2021-09-21 08:04:46
- date last changed
- 2021-10-22 10:24:44
@article{5051bd13-e821-4126-839c-13acc9e52e08,
abstract = {{Stigmatization and labeling in society is one of the challenges that families of institutionalized children face. This research aims to investigate how professionals categorize the children and their families, and how, in turn, the categorization process impacts their daily practice and the relationship with families. The case study was conducted in a local children’s institution in Aalborg, Denmark, following an ethnographic approach that included day-time participant observations, semi-structured interviews with a pedagogue and a family therapist, and a “discovery” exercise with pedagogues. The data were analyzed using the two main concepts of categorization and stigmatization. The results show how professionals categorized parents as “resourceful” and “non-resourceful,” causing barriers in their work with the families. Categorization based on “resourceful parent” is a co-constitutive process influenced by the interactions between the Danish system (macro level), the institutional field in which public and private actors operate (meso level), and the everyday interventions of practitioners (micro level). Overall, the process of categorization and labeling shapes the collaboration between professionals and parents, which leads to an overemphasis of particular family traits, with a direct link to the “myth of meritocracy.”}},
author = {{Acosta-Jiménez, María Alejandra and Antonios, Anna Maria and Meijer, Veerle and Di Matteo, Claudia}},
issn = {{2313-5778}},
keywords = {{categorization; stigmatization; critical social work; practice theory; institutional logic}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{08}},
number = {{3}},
publisher = {{MDPI AG}},
series = {{Genealogy}},
title = {{Categorization and Stigmatization of Families Whose Children Are Institutionalized. A Danish Case Study}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genealogy5030076}},
doi = {{10.3390/genealogy5030076}},
volume = {{5}},
year = {{2021}},
}