Dans un contexte général caractérisé à la fois par la dépopulation et une forte mortalité infantile, la IIIe République manifeste dès ses débuts une volonté politique sans précédent envers la protection de l’enfance. Entre 1874 et 1923, environ 800 enfants sont admis à l’Assistance publique dans les Basses-Alpes, un effectif restreint lié principalement à la faiblesse démographique de ce département rural et montagneux du sud-est de la France. Il s’agit le plus souvent de nouveau-nés abandonnés par leur mère célibataire, victime de l’opprobre social, mais on admet également des orphelins pauvres et des enfants légitimes négligés ou maltraités. Dès leur admission, les enfants sont placés dans des familles nourricières. Vers treize ans, garçons et filles sont en général placés à gages en domesticité. Si la situation globale des pupilles s’améliore indéniablement au cours de la IIIe République, la stigmatisation dont ils sont l’objet apparait flagrante, et un certain nombre d’entre eux demeurent taraudés par le désir de percer le secret de leur histoire. / ABSTRACT: In a context characterized by depopulation and high infant mortality, the Third Republic shows its early political desire to protect children which makes this period particularly relevant to observe from the point of view of the vulnerable population of assisted children: as wards of the State, they are likely to benefit more than other children from the new legislation in favour of health, education and work.. Between 1874 and 1923, about 800 children are admitted to Public Care in the Basses-Alpes, the small number reflecting the sparse population of this rural and mountainous department of the south east of France. It is most often new born babies who are admitted, abandoned by their single mother, victims of social stigma, but also orphans and legitimate children who are neglected or abused. Upon admission, children are placed in foster families who raise and educate them with varying degrees of commitment, but always under the control of the Inspector of Public Assistance. Until the age of thirteen, these young wards live pretty much like most children living in the countryside, that is, working on the family farm as well as going to school (which becomes compulsory in 1882.) Subsequently, both boys and girls are generally placed in domestic service on the farms or less often as servants in the city. During these challenging times, as with all young people, they experience friendship, love, and adventure. However, if the overall situation of the wards is undeniably improving during the Third Republic, nevertheless they continue to suffer from a pervasive social stigma, which drives some of them to search for the truth behind their story.

This master’s thesis focuses on educational discourse as it appears in texts about reading promotion interventions directed towards children in public care and children in families with long-term financial assistance. Three case studies of interventions are presented: Skolfam, Paired Reading and Letterbox Club Sweden. The aim of the thesis is to investigate how the interventions are related to the Foucauldian concepts of governmentality, pastoral power, normalization and technologies of the self. The method used is based on the ideas and concepts of Michel Foucault, who deals with the different modes by which we as human beings perform our subjectivity in relation to discourses and institutions. The case studies analyse how reading and math activities are directed towards socially vulnerable children for the prevention of adverse outcomes and social exclusion in adulthood. The relationship between social problems and literacy are of central importance to the analysis. The results of the analysis reveal that the interventions are linked to liberal governmentality. The reading promotion activities are expected to change the children’s reading behavior and attitudes toward education. It is hoped that the interventions will achieve a self-regulating capacity among the children, in order to make them improve their school achievements. The underlying ambition is to form and shape subjects to become independent, democratic citizens who are capable of maintaining a life without long-termed social assistance.  The interventions are especially focused on supporting the foster parents to best meet the needs of the children in accordance with liberal governmentality. This is a two years master’s thesis in Archive, Library and Museum studies.

The aim of this study was to examine whether certain background variables (sex, age group, reasons for placement, amount of problems, involuntary placement/voluntary placement) affect the probability of children/youths being placed in emergency homes (jourhem) and whether these variables correlate with the occurrence of placement breakdown. The material consists of 445 requests for children/youths to be placed in emergency homes in six municipalities within the Stockholm region during a three-year-period (2016-2018). Frequency tables, cross tables and simple and multiple logistic regression were used to analyze the data and Bronfenbrenner's theory of developmental ecology was used as the theoretical framework. Results show that emergency homes differ from other types of placement in some regards: behavioral problems reduced the probability of placement occurring significantly compared to problems relating to the parent's abilities as a caregiver. Youths had a significantly higher risk for placement breakdown than children. Involuntary care reduced the likelihood of placement occurring and increased the risk for placement breakdown compared to voluntary placement. The prevalence of placement breakdowns was similar to the figures found in prior research on other forms of placements. The implications for social work and the need for further research is discussed.