Sociology of Alternative Care: Based on the participant observation and in-depth interviews in a children’s self-reliance support facility
Author: TOMA, Kota , k_toma222@hotmail.com
Department: Graduate School of Human Relations
University: Keio University, Japan
Supervisor: Hideki WATANABE
Year of completion: 2015
Language of dissertation: Japanese
Keywords:
Socialization of Child Care
, Social Care
, Children's Self-Reliance Suppo
, Defamilialization
Areas of Research:
Family Research
, Poverty, Social Welfare and Social Policy
, Education
Abstract
In Japan, socialization of childcare is strongly asserted in order to reduce the burdens of family. In this context, many limits of childcare only by family have been revealed and needs of support to them have been recognized. On the other, about social care of children, many people claim that social care facilities should be made more familial. It can be said that there is two contradictory discourse about childcare in Japan.
This paper has two purposes. First, by comparing child care practices in social care facility as "non-family" with those in family, it aims to represent a full-length picture of socialization of child care. Second, it tries to consider the reason why previous debates about socialization of childcare have been limited to family centered problematique.
Under this purpose, I conducted the participant observation and in-depth interviews in a children’s self-reliance support facility from June 2012 to June 2013. These are the basic data of this paper. In addition, I interviewed staff members in another two facilities and they are used in an additional chapter.
From analysis, it is revealed that the practice of group care have some merits in childcare, and making facilities more familial cannot be the best way because care by small adults have many limits as previous studies about socialization of childcare was pointed. Based on these evidences, this paper reconstruct the logic about childcare. Second, by comparing child care practices in social care facility as "non-family" with those in family, it identifies the needs of childcare in wide sense. Third, it points the norm which limit childcare only one private sphere and isolation of children occurred by such norm. Last, it points familialism in Japan which limits discussions about childcare in "family problem."
In conclusion this paper claim that defamilialization of child rearing, mean that "realize the social condition that provides support to children wherever they are cared and reared," is the most important task.
