Case history discourse. A rhetoric of troublesome youngsters and faceless treatment
(2015) In European Journal of Social Work- Abstract
- In numerous social control settings, staff routinely write case histories on clients to assist colleagues and authorities in treatment decisions. In this article, we examine how such institutional writing constructs ‘working versions’ of youngsters, portraying their objects of care as personally troublesome. Simultaneously, the institution is portrayed as facelessly, uniformly and collectively remedying their behaviour. Using material from a centre for juvenile delinquents in Sweden, we analyse three discursive techniques that accomplish this documentary reality: (1) trouble zooming, (2) mood notes and (3) deflecting staff agency. We also reflect on the social conditions for the recurrent rhetoric.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/5276096
- author
- Wästerfors, David LU and Åkerström, Malin LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2015
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- rhetoric, juvenile delinquents, social control, documentary reality
- in
- European Journal of Social Work
- publisher
- Routledge
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:84927731982
- wos:000389213800005
- ISSN
- 1369-1457
- DOI
- 10.1080/13691457.2015.1030366
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- First published Online, 13 April 2015
- id
- 531abab5-d6a7-4695-87bd-2f9949f41945 (old id 5276096)
- alternative location
- http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13691457.2015.1030366#abstract
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 08:57:00
- date last changed
- 2022-02-20 22:55:38
@article{531abab5-d6a7-4695-87bd-2f9949f41945,
abstract = {{In numerous social control settings, staff routinely write case histories on clients to assist colleagues and authorities in treatment decisions. In this article, we examine how such institutional writing constructs ‘working versions’ of youngsters, portraying their objects of care as personally troublesome. Simultaneously, the institution is portrayed as facelessly, uniformly and collectively remedying their behaviour. Using material from a centre for juvenile delinquents in Sweden, we analyse three discursive techniques that accomplish this documentary reality: (1) trouble zooming, (2) mood notes and (3) deflecting staff agency. We also reflect on the social conditions for the recurrent rhetoric.}},
author = {{Wästerfors, David and Åkerström, Malin}},
issn = {{1369-1457}},
keywords = {{rhetoric; juvenile delinquents; social control; documentary reality}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Routledge}},
series = {{European Journal of Social Work}},
title = {{Case history discourse. A rhetoric of troublesome youngsters and faceless treatment}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2015.1030366}},
doi = {{10.1080/13691457.2015.1030366}},
year = {{2015}},
}