About the project

ABSTRACT:

The aim of this study is to explore how discourses and practices related to risk operate in the construction of subjectivity and social life of children from residential care. The project combines a number of theoretical objectives (which aim to provide, an in-depth  understanding of the social construction of the at-risk children in out of home care) with empirical objectives (which aim to contribute to a better understanding of how practitioners perceive risk, how their perception differs from that of the children, how this perception is constructed; how it affects the process of evaluation and decision making in working with children in residential care and how the models of risk used by practitioners reflect on day to day experiences of children in residential care) and operational objectives (explicitly defined in terms of influencing the practices and social policies in the field of protection of children in residential centers, through case studies and other methods of dissemination) in order to provide a complete picture of the issues studied and also to find applicability in the field of social policies and practices. In this project we have argued that the most appropriate methodology for risk researches is qualitative. this methodology is justified even more due to the fact that we want to capture the voice of children. therefore the basic methods are ethnographic (narrative interviews). These will be supplemented by analysis of documents and case studies.

KEY WORDS:

risk perception, risk assessment , decision making , participation, residential care