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Providing Care for Children: How Service Providers Define and Apply “Care” in Contemporary South Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2016

Katie Barclay
Affiliation:
ARC Centre for Excellence in the History of Emotions, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
Dee Michell
Affiliation:
School of Social Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
Clemence Due*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Clemence Due, School of Psychology, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5001. E-mail: clemence.due@adelaide.edu.au

Abstract

While a wide array of service providers and academic scholars apply the use of “care” in their work, the concept of “care” itself remains largely undefined. This has widespread implications for applied work with children and young people (CYP), particularly since institutions such as schools and non-governmental organisations are increasingly being expected to care for or about children. In this paper, we use thematic analysis to report on interviews with representatives from four service providers and organisations responsible for the care of children. In our analysis, we explore both how care is defined by these organisations, and the implications for practice when working with CYP.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016 

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