Paper short abstract:

This presentation is about the presence of nearness, violence and risk in the physical care relationship between staff and children in school-age educare centers in Sweden. The material comes from fieldwork at two school-age educare centers and consists of observations and interviews with the staff.

Paper long abstract:

This presentation is based on a research project which studies the physical interaction between staff and children in the Swedish school-age educare (SAE). My focus is on how the staff interpret, explain and physically act on different children's needs for physical care, as well as how the staff experience and use their bodies in interaction with children.

In parallel with a more widespread teaching discourse, a concern for sexual abuse in childcare has also grown globally since the turn of the millennium. Research has shown how this in particular has led male educators to develop strategies to avoid the risk of being made suspicious (Åberg, Hedlin & Johansson 2020). In this presentation, I will also discuss how a risk perspective on physical interaction with children can be seen as integrated into the staff's mindset and actions.

The material comes from fieldwork at two SAE centers in Stockholm over the course of a year (2022). In the fieldwork I observed physical interaction between staff and children and interviewed the staff about their experiences, thoughts and considerations regarding this. In this presentation I will start from the theoretical perspectives of critical perspectives on norms (Butler 2004) and emotional labour (Hochschild 2012).

The preliminary results show how nearness, violence and risk are present in the care relationship between staff and children at SAE centers and how this is surrounded by norms and emotions (or the regulation of emotions).