Dealing with the past of harmful treatment in state institutions
Over the last decades, an increasing range of countries, including Switzerland, have addressed systematic maltreatment in state institutions, but empirical research on how dealing with the past can effectively benefit care alumni and their families is still relatively sparse. The present research project engages with the opportunity to study processes of dealing with memories of problematic care in a context where today there is still widespread societal silence on harmful treatment in state institutions, through a privileged access to a research site in Luxembourg. Such research would be both scientifically insightful and socially useful: it will allow observing, here and now, what it takes for individuals and families to live with memories of harmful care in a society that looks away, but also conveys an ethical obligation to create safe spaces where care alumni can break the silence in a setting of unchallenging listening.
The projects therefore pursue three inter-related goals:
- First, we will look at the biographic impact of residential care over generations, broadening the scope to the children of care alumni, but also to their parents.
- Second, we will look at how challenging family histories become sources of resilience as well as of vulnerability.
- Third, unlike the bulk of previous research programs that started after societies had broken the silence, we will study these processes in a social context that is still marked by collective silence about harmful treatment in state institutions.
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