This article charts the UK history of contact in fostering and adoption as it relates to looked after children and their birth relatives. It builds on a recent publication in this journal by one of the authors based on her research on the use of social media by children in care. Here we look at previous practices relating to the question of whether or not contact ought to be ‘allowed’ in which words such as ‘access’ were used, betokening the child as object. We also come up to date with reference to contemporary efforts to recast contact as ‘family time’ that is significant in the child’s continuation of understanding of self. Other words in the lexicon are problematised, including ‘contact’ itself. Attention is also devoted to the social work profession's conception and management of contact. We argue that a critical history of contact reveals the various ways that formal and informal power operates to both regulate and discipline those involved, most centrally the child and birth family members. Drawing upon emerging research relating to social media and contact, the article concludes with a discussion of how young people’s access to, and use of, social media has altered, how contact is managed and ‘policed’, and how this has shifted the balance of power in contact towards greater egalitarianism.

中文翻译：

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抚育与收养的接触简史：实践与力量，以及手机的到来

本文描绘了英国在寄养和收养方面的联系历史，因为它与照看儿童及其亲生亲属有关。它建立在一位作者最近在该杂志上发表的一篇文章的基础上，该文章基于她对照顾儿童使用社交媒体的研究。在这里，我们看一下与是否应该“允许”接触的问题相关的先前实践，其中使用了诸如“访问”之类的词，将孩子视为对象。我们还参考了当代将接触重新塑造为“家庭时间”的努力，这对于孩子继续了解自我具有重要意义。词典中的其他词也有问题，包括“联系”本身。还关注社会工作专业对联系的概念和管理。我们认为，接触的批判历史揭示了正式和非正式权力运作的各种方式，以规范和惩戒相关人员，主要是儿童和出生家庭成员。借鉴与社交媒体和联系相关的新兴研究，文章最后讨论了年轻人对社交媒体的访问和使用发生了怎样的变化，联系的管理和“监管”方式，以及这如何改变了社交媒体的平衡。接触更大的平等主义的权力。