Article published in:
Dialogue in institutional settingsEdited by Franca Orletti and Letizia Caronia
[Language and Dialogue 9:1] 2019
► pp. 172–190
‘Inevitable distinctions’
The discursive construction of unaccompanied minors’ agency in Italian residential care
Marzia Saglietti | University of Bologna (Italy)
Professionals working in residential care for children everyday perform the institutional relevant activity of
constructing their cases. This article analyzes the ways in which they construct the case of ‘unaccompanied minors’ (UAM) and how,
in doing so, they talk into being their everyday practices of work. Drawing on ethnographic interviews with Italian residential
care professionals, this study adopts a Discourse Analysis approach. Findings illustrate how the discursive assemblage of UAM
relies on participants’ multiple distinctions and on a contrastive rhetoric that is widely used in social work. Differences in the
case-construction of UAM mirror participants’ institutional settings and overall socio-cultural debate, paving the way for future
investigation.
Keywords: discursive construction of clients, unaccompanied minors, agency, social work, residential care, ethnographic interviews, Discourse Analysis, othering process
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Constructing the cases: Performing an institutionally relevant activity in the field of social work
- 3.Unaccompanied minors: A zombie category?
- 4.Design and methodology of the study
- 5.Unaccompanied minors’ agency: Making ‘inevitable’ distinctions
- 5.1Asylum-seekers’ agency
- 5.2Economic migrants’ agency
- 6.Discussion
- 7.Concluding remarks
- Notes
-
References
Published online: 05 July 2019
https://doi.org/10.1075/ld.00037.sag
https://doi.org/10.1075/ld.00037.sag
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Cited by
Cited by 2 other publications
Saglietti, Marzia & Filomena Marino
Saglietti, Marzia & Cristina Zucchermaglio
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 03 april 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.