Sammendrag

I artikkelen setter jeg dagens problematisering av taushet og tause barn opp mot hvordan fenomenet tause barn fremstår i egen forskning om forrige århundrets barnevern. Artikkelen viser at den økte problematiseringen av barns taushet henger sammen med endring barns stilling i samfunnet. Jeg argumenterer for at barns taushet må ses i en samfunnsmessig kontekst, og bør ikke reduseres til personlighetstrekk ved det enkelte barn.

Keywords:Tause barn, barnevern, kommunikasjon, makt.

Abstract

Today, silence, invisibility, and non-participation are regarded as a problem in the modern childhood. Based in own research of the child welfare system in the last century this article focused upon the complexity of silence. The understanding and concerns for silence is connected by children’s position in the society, and can not be reduced to individual personality traits. For children living in stressful care settings, silence can be crucial survival strategy, offering protection and sometimes spaces for negotiation harmful relations

Keyword:

Silence, secrecy, children, agency, child welfare system, communication