Anbragte børn i socialpædagogiske lænker bag tremmer: – deres livsførelse og konflikter med de professionelle

Institutionalized children in pedagogical chains behind bars – their conduct of life and conflicts with the professional staff

The present article is based on the Ph.D dissertation: Pedagogy Behind Bars (Hoffmann, 2018). It is a social psychological investigation of the pedagogical praksis from an intersubjective and dialogical perspective including children and professional staff. The article is a revised version of my Ph.D. defense which took place at Roskilde University November 9 2018.
In Denmark we see an increasing tendency to institutionalize children under the age of 18 on secured institutions. The pedagogues have a double function in the everyday practice of a secured institution. They must control the children (what they are allowed to do, when and how) and at the same time they must involve the children’s self-determination in different ways. This is normally understood as a clash between control efforts and pedagogical intentions of change. The conflict is regarded as difficult to unite in the everyday life of the institution. In the article I show that in spite of the difficult conditions of the functions of custody and resocialisation in a secured institution there are many possibilities for pedagogical initiatives, which are realized in different ways.