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‘Touch’ in educational and child care settings: dilemmas and responses
Author(s) -
Piper Heather,
Smith Hannah
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
british educational research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.171
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1469-3518
pISSN - 0141-1926
DOI - 10.1080/0141192032000137358
Subject(s) - confusion , psychology , exploratory research , social psychology , moral panic , pedagogy , developmental psychology , sociology , criminology , social science , psychoanalysis
This article considers the touching, or rather, not touching, of children and young people in professional settings. Some have argued that many schools and other childcare environments are becoming ‘no touch’ zones. Formal guidelines in the UK are centrally concerned with ‘child protection’ issues, and ‘force and control’, and as such appear more reactive than proactive. From the authors' exploratory studies it has emerged that this is an area where fear and confusion (resulting from a moral panic) have tended to replace a response that is primarily concerned with the caring needs of children. The authors regard this as an area that can no longer be left to chance and suggest that future policy should be informed by research that takes account of the complexities as discussed throughout.