Great expectations. An analysis of child protection cases concerning immigrant children in Italy as a discursive practice

Abstract

The paper aims to highlight the role and impact of written documents in managing child protection cases concerning immigrant children and their families in Italy. Analyzing documentation through the lens offered by Foucault’s notion of writing as a discursive rite oriented toward the reproduction of social norms, we examined, in depth, eight immigrant children’s cases that were handled by welfare services. Reports from practitioners such as social workers, youth workers, psychologists, counsellors, and legal advisors were examined to understand how the piling up of documentation, which is supposed to be neutral and unbiased, concurs to continuously redefine the boundaries between cultural inclusion and exclusion and reassert the common definition of normality. Moreover, we offer suggestions for how developing a reflexive attitude toward the use of documents could help practitioners to promote a more culturally sensitive approach to managing child protection.