ABSTRACT
In many European countries during the last years, there has been a broad public debate on violence against children in institutions. In this context, professionals are required to deal with the risk of violent assaults against children by their colleagues. In our paper, we aim to discuss professional’s struggle to find words to talk about perceptions of violence by their colleagues in residential care.
The article is based on a broader qualitative research project from Germany which analyzes the circumstances of a case of systematic violence by professionals in residential care for children with disabilities. In the articles study narrative interviews are analyzed with professionals who worked in the organisation during the violent team constellation. Data interpretation is done according to the grounded theory.
The results point out that violence committed by colleagues seems to be unspeakable even if concrete disconcerting situations have been observed in the interaction between professionals and children. Staff member’s perceptions of violence and reasons for not discussing and disclosing are emphasized. The article concludes that the perception of violence is dependent on the context in which it takes place; therefore it must be reflected who is in power to define violence in professional settings and in research.
