Touch and silence are neglected across most disciplines, including within child-specific academic literature, and their interconnections have not been studied before. This article focuses on touch/silence convergences in residential childcare in England, drawing from two qualitative studies. We reveal the fluidity, multidimensionality and intersectionality of touch and silence, illuminating the labyrinthine ways they frequently coalesce in children’s homes, often assuming ambiguous forms and meanings. We therefore offer new understandings of these concepts, as multifaceted, entwined, temporal and malleable.

中文翻译：

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使触摸静音并保持沉默？了解住宅幼儿保育环境中触摸与静音之间的复杂联系

在大多数学科中，包括在针对儿童的学术文献中，触摸和沉默都被忽略，而它们之间的相互联系以前也没有被研究过。本文基于两项定性研究，着眼于英格兰寄宿儿童保育中的接触/沉默融合。我们揭示了触摸和沉默的流动性，多维性和交叉性，阐明了迷宫般的方式在儿童之家中经常合并在一起，并常常采用模棱两可的形式和含义。因此，我们对这些概念提供了新的理解，包括多方面的，交织的，时间的和可延展的。