ABSTRACT

This article draws on findings from a qualitative study in Denmark on decision-making related to secure placement of young people. The article identifies a repertoire of narratives that legitimise the decision and contribute to sustain the placement in secure accommodation. Secure placement is imbued with a range of dilemmas serving a purpose to protect and provide care for young people assessed to be at risk to themselves or others. However, confinement can also have detrimental effects on young people’s mental health, access to education and relational continuity. Secure placement is temporary and, according to UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, should not be sustained any longer than necessary. Thus, scholarly attention is needed to understand the logics that legitimise keeping young people locked up. The article draws on the theorisation of sense-making and committed interpretation developed by Karl Weick (2001), and contributes to the growing literature on decision-making in child welfare, adding insights on the logics that sustain and even replicate decisions to confine young people. Acknowledging the dynamics and effects of certain legitimising narratives is an important step in reducing the length of stay in confinement.

摘要

本文借鉴了丹麦一项关于与安全安置年轻人相关的决策的定性研究结果。这篇文章确定了一系列叙述，这些叙述使决定合法化并有助于维持安全住所的安置。安全安置充满了一系列困境，目的是保护和照顾被评估为对自己或他人有风险的年轻人。然而，禁闭也会对年轻人的心理健康、受教育机会和关系延续产生不利影响。安全安置是暂时的，根据联合国儿童权利公约，不得超过必要的时间。因此，需要学术上的关注来理解将年轻人关起来合法化的逻辑。这篇文章借鉴了 Karl Weick（2001 年）提出的意义建构和承诺解释的理论，并为日益增多的儿童福利决策文献做出了贡献，增加了对维持甚至复制限制年轻人决策的逻辑的见解. 承认某些合法化叙述的动态和影响是减少监禁时间的重要一步。