Child protection is a field characterized by intrinsic tensions and ambivalence, related to the s... more Child protection is a field characterized by intrinsic tensions and ambivalence, related to the state’s intervention in the family sphere and to a double mandate of care and control. This article focuses on the participation of parents in statutory child protection proceedings and the ambivalence they experience in their interactions with the Child and Adult Protection Authority in Switzerland (CAPA). The aim is to explore parents’ views on what they consider as hindering or enabling in their interactions with the CAPA in order to be able to fully participate in child protection proceedings. The article is based on a large interdisciplinary research project including multi-perspective cases collected in four cantons of Switzerland and puts the focus on in-depth interviews with ten birth parents. Results show that ambivalence is inherent to the interactions between parents and the CAPA, as the mere opening of child protection proceedings is experienced as a threat to the parents’ int...
TSANTSA – Journal of the Swiss Anthropological Association, 2021
La rencontre entre le droit et la diversité socioculturelle, qui est de plus en plus présente dan... more La rencontre entre le droit et la diversité socioculturelle, qui est de plus en plus présente dans nos sociétés mondialisées, entraîne régulièrement des débats publics et une remise en question des pratiques judiciaires. Cependant, malgré le nombre important de recherches autour du droit des personnes issues de la migration, la gestion de cette diversité socioculturelle dans les procédures en protection de l’enfant en Suisse reste une problématique très peu conceptualisée. Ainsi, au travers d’une analyse de huit observations d’audiences menées dans deux Autorités de Protection de l’Enfant et de l’Adulte (APEA) en Suisse romande, nous mettons en avant le fait qu’il existe une certaine difficulté à intégrer les différences socioculturelles dans les échanges entre professionnel·le·s et familles issues de la migration. Cela est notamment dû à une forte psychologisation des comportements des familles et à l’adoption d’une approche universaliste de la culture par les membres des APEA.
The main aim of this chapter is to compare the social capital structures produced by personal net... more The main aim of this chapter is to compare the social capital structures produced by personal networks in Portugal, Switzerland, and Lithuania. On the one hand, we hypothesise that the type of social capital is primarily associated with the composition of personal configurations. On the other hand, we also expect that social capital structures are shaped by the constraints and opportunities associated with different welfare regimes, social policies, and level of social development in each country. Findings show that both Portuguese and Lithuanian networks are characterised by a bonding type of social capital, although in Portugal the interdependencies rely on the exchange of emotional support, whereas in Lithuania the interdependencies stem from face-to-face interactions. Switzerland, in contrast, is characterised by a bridging type of social capital.
This article examines the potential of using ego-centered networks with a case illustration drawn... more This article examines the potential of using ego-centered networks with a case illustration drawn from the Swiss survey Family Trajectories and Social Networks: A Configurational Perspective of the Life Course (Family tiMes). It addresses the strengths and limitations of ego-centered network analysis based on name generators by using personal networks of individuals living in Switzerland composed of alters perceived as “very important.” In the first section, we put ego-centered networks into perspective with regard to other types of networks, different generators to collect them, frequent biases associated to them and their utilization in Swiss studies. In the second section, three issues are briefly explored: the composition of personal networks to assess what types of ties are especially important for individuals, the tendency toward educational homophily, and the exchanges of emotional support occurring among network members. We show how to create a typology of personal networks,...
Eine thematische Reflektion uber das Eintreten in oder das Austreten aus einer Institution verlan... more Eine thematische Reflektion uber das Eintreten in oder das Austreten aus einer Institution verlangt vorab eine Definition des Begriffs. Eine wahre Herausforderung! Denn das Bedeutungsspektrum reicht von sehr abstrakten sozialen Organisationsformen – Heirat, politische Parteien und Justiz – bis hin zu namentlich bekannten Einrichtungen in jeweils ganz spezifi schen Orten: das Internat von Pre Fleuri, der Gruppenraum des Mont Tendre oder das Gefangnis der Tuilerien… Die Polysemie des zentralen Begriffs unseres Dossiers – einige wurden sogar eine beruhmte Person als Institution ansehen – widersteht jeglicher Versuchung ihn konzeptuell prazis zu erfassen, um diese 16. Ausgabe der Zeitschrift Tsantsa einzuleiten. In den letzten Jahren hat eine Vielzahl von AutorInnen aus den Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften zu diesem Thema kontrastreiche Beitrage geleistet.
As exchanges of instrumental support between kin and non-kin remain essential to buffer the impac... more As exchanges of instrumental support between kin and non-kin remain essential to buffer the impact of critical life events, we consider the characteristics of personal configurations that may enhance or hinder them. Personal configurations vary in terms of their composition and two aspects of their structure: density and centrality. These dimensions are investigated to uncover whether they influence the type of instrumental support being exchanged (financial, material, and care) and the likelihood of their being reciprocal. Drawing on a representative sample of individuals living in Switzerland, results show that overall instrumental support is present in all personal configurations irrespective of their composition, but financial support is more prevalent in configurations based on parent–adult child relationships. Furthermore, configuration structures characterized by density of emotional support are positively associated with giving care support and with reciprocity, while those ...
Cadre de la recherche : Dans un contexte caractérisé à la fois par une augmentation du nombre de ... more Cadre de la recherche : Dans un contexte caractérisé à la fois par une augmentation du nombre de séparations et par la pérennité d’un idéal conjugal, une rupture conjugale est un événement qui est vécu comme une épreuve personnelle et douloureuse par les individus concernés, notamment parce qu’elle signifie non seulement la fin d’un couple, mais va aussi de pair avec une transformation du réseau personnel.Objectifs : Nous étudierons ici comment les individus reforment les frontières de leur réseau personnel autour des personnes qui leur ont apporté du soutien et de la reconnaissance au cours du processus de rupture conjugale, et examinerons les négociations visant un juste partage, entre les ex-conjoints, de ces relations auparavant communes, ainsi que les sentiments – notamment, d’injustice – engendrés par ce partage.Méthodologie : Cet article se fonde sur une analyse fine d’entretiens qualitatifs réalisés en Suisse et en Angleterre auprès de jeunes adultes qui se sont séparés d’un...
As in other European countries, the Swiss child protection system has gone through substantial ch... more As in other European countries, the Swiss child protection system has gone through substantial changes in the course of the 20th century up to today. Increasingly, the needs as well as the participation of children and parents affected by child protection interventions have become a central concern. In Switzerland, critical debates around care-related detention of children and adults until 1981 have led to the launch of the National Research Program ‘Welfare and Coercion—Past, Present and Future’ (NRP 76), with the aim of understanding past and current welfare practices. This paper is based on our research project, which is part of this national program. We first discuss three overarching concepts—integrity, autonomy and participation—at the heart of a theoretical framework in order to understand the position of parents and children in child protection proceedings. Secondly, we critically analyze the historical and legal development of the child protection system in Switzerland and ...
This article explores online narratives of the loss or change of friendships following an intimat... more This article explores online narratives of the loss or change of friendships following an intimate partner relationship breakdown. Drawing on internet forum discussions, we explore individuals’ transitions from coupled to single, and the multiple ways in which this affects their friendship ties. Forum users struggled to reconcile friends’ abandonment or distance with cultural representations of friendship as providing intense emotional support during critical life transitions. Users also reflect on the impact of their recent singlehood on friendships established and maintained while coupled, with relationship breakdown illuminating previously unacknowledged couple privilege. We argue that the loss of friendships exacerbated and became part of the break-up experience, illustrating the embedded nature of relationships (Smart, 2007). Relationship breakdown is perceived as acting as an ‘ordeal’ for friendship, revealing the depth and quality of existing ties, as users reflect on their o...
Over the life course, individuals develop personal networks that provide essential resources, spo... more Over the life course, individuals develop personal networks that provide essential resources, sporadically or on a daily basis, such as instrumental, emotional, and informational support. Those personal networks are composed of family (i.e., primary and extended kin) and nonfamily ties (i.e., friends, colleagues, acquaintances) (Pahl and Spencer 2004). The prominence of specific ties varies across the life course depending on life stages, transitions, and events. Following the linked-lives principles (Elder et al. 2003), these transitions trigger changes in household composition, promoting different types of relational interdependencies. The level of interdependence with some household members may have a cumulative effect by strengthening the bonds, whereas with others the effect may be more ephemeral and lead to the exclusion of such ties in current personal networks. Thus, coresidence trajectories, such as the experience of growing up in a two or one-parent family, leaving the parental home early or late, moving in with a partner or living alone, becoming a parent, divorcing, and other events, will differentially influence the composition of personal networks.
Individual life courses may be defined as sequences of status profiles. They are multidimensional... more Individual life courses may be defined as sequences of status profiles. They are multidimensional in the sense that they unfold simultaneously in various interdependent life domains such as family and occupation. In the Swiss welfare state system, family is considered as a private matter and only limited extra-familial childcare facilities are provided. Hence, in Switzerland, transition to parenthood often leads to life course gendering regarding these two central domains. While most men follow full-time employment trajectories, most women withdraw, temporarily or not, from the labor market by choosing part-time jobs that are structurally more compatible with raising children. Correlatively, the personal networks of relationships in which individuals are embedded are also gendered. Fostering relationships, either with family members or with other close people, has often been described as a woman's role. This gendered social participation of women and men further leads to the dev...
Comment se prépare et s'expérimente la transition à l'âge adulte lors de placements juvén... more Comment se prépare et s'expérimente la transition à l'âge adulte lors de placements juvéniles? Ce livre est une invitation à entrer dans la réalité institutionnelle d’adolescentes et d’adolescents proches de leur majorité, placés dans des structures d’hébergement socio-éducatives, appelées aussi foyers. Basé sur un riche matériel de terrain, il dévoile toute la complexité du travail d’accompagnement en interrogeant la place centrale accordée à la notion d’autonomie dans les prises en charge éducatives. Il prend appui autant sur le point de vue des professionnel·le·s que sur celui des jeunes placé·e·s pour montrer comment les dimensions identitaires, civiles et citoyennes viennent s'adosser à la mission de ces institutions, en particulier lors des nombreuses séquences ritualisées qui rythment le vivre ensemble jour après jour. Il en résulte une analyse anthropologique originale du placement juvénile qui intéressera le monde professionnel directement aux prises avec les r...
Bei unserer Studie zu den Identitätsprozessen, die von jungen Menschen beider Geschlechter in off... more Bei unserer Studie zu den Identitätsprozessen, die von jungen Menschen beider Geschlechter in offenen Genfer Jugendheimen durchlebt werden, wollten wir uns ursprünglich nur mit bestimmten Praktiken und Konzepten im Zusammenhang mit unserer Problemstellung befassen – der Frage, wie die Jugendlichen und die Mitglieder der Betreuungsteams die Bezugssysteme der Zugehörigkeit und die damit verbundenen Gefühle in Szene setzen.
In ethnological research, what are the means available to record the different stages of an inves... more In ethnological research, what are the means available to record the different stages of an investigation, from the first step in the field to the final conclusions? This article examines how the field journal can serve as a dynamic way with which to track each stage of the research process. Based on thirteen months fieldwork in three juvenile facilities for abused and/or delinquent teenagers in Geneva, we investigate the process of writing fieldnotes and the sharing of a single field journal among three researchers. Firstly, our findings show that the field journal is created through relationships formed in the field. The researcher taking fieldnotes in front of others can be seen to inspire curiosity and provoke interesting reactions; teenagers and social workers were found to reveal or actively hide information according to their individual interests in the research outcome. Secondly, we focus on the collaborative process that occurs between researchers who have different access ...
Child protection is a field characterized by intrinsic tensions and ambivalence, related to the s... more Child protection is a field characterized by intrinsic tensions and ambivalence, related to the state’s intervention in the family sphere and to a double mandate of care and control. This article focuses on the participation of parents in statutory child protection proceedings and the ambivalence they experience in their interactions with the Child and Adult Protection Authority in Switzerland (CAPA). The aim is to explore parents’ views on what they consider as hindering or enabling in their interactions with the CAPA in order to be able to fully participate in child protection proceedings. The article is based on a large interdisciplinary research project including multi-perspective cases collected in four cantons of Switzerland and puts the focus on in-depth interviews with ten birth parents. Results show that ambivalence is inherent to the interactions between parents and the CAPA, as the mere opening of child protection proceedings is experienced as a threat to the parents’ int...
TSANTSA – Journal of the Swiss Anthropological Association, 2021
La rencontre entre le droit et la diversité socioculturelle, qui est de plus en plus présente dan... more La rencontre entre le droit et la diversité socioculturelle, qui est de plus en plus présente dans nos sociétés mondialisées, entraîne régulièrement des débats publics et une remise en question des pratiques judiciaires. Cependant, malgré le nombre important de recherches autour du droit des personnes issues de la migration, la gestion de cette diversité socioculturelle dans les procédures en protection de l’enfant en Suisse reste une problématique très peu conceptualisée. Ainsi, au travers d’une analyse de huit observations d’audiences menées dans deux Autorités de Protection de l’Enfant et de l’Adulte (APEA) en Suisse romande, nous mettons en avant le fait qu’il existe une certaine difficulté à intégrer les différences socioculturelles dans les échanges entre professionnel·le·s et familles issues de la migration. Cela est notamment dû à une forte psychologisation des comportements des familles et à l’adoption d’une approche universaliste de la culture par les membres des APEA.
The main aim of this chapter is to compare the social capital structures produced by personal net... more The main aim of this chapter is to compare the social capital structures produced by personal networks in Portugal, Switzerland, and Lithuania. On the one hand, we hypothesise that the type of social capital is primarily associated with the composition of personal configurations. On the other hand, we also expect that social capital structures are shaped by the constraints and opportunities associated with different welfare regimes, social policies, and level of social development in each country. Findings show that both Portuguese and Lithuanian networks are characterised by a bonding type of social capital, although in Portugal the interdependencies rely on the exchange of emotional support, whereas in Lithuania the interdependencies stem from face-to-face interactions. Switzerland, in contrast, is characterised by a bridging type of social capital.
This article examines the potential of using ego-centered networks with a case illustration drawn... more This article examines the potential of using ego-centered networks with a case illustration drawn from the Swiss survey Family Trajectories and Social Networks: A Configurational Perspective of the Life Course (Family tiMes). It addresses the strengths and limitations of ego-centered network analysis based on name generators by using personal networks of individuals living in Switzerland composed of alters perceived as “very important.” In the first section, we put ego-centered networks into perspective with regard to other types of networks, different generators to collect them, frequent biases associated to them and their utilization in Swiss studies. In the second section, three issues are briefly explored: the composition of personal networks to assess what types of ties are especially important for individuals, the tendency toward educational homophily, and the exchanges of emotional support occurring among network members. We show how to create a typology of personal networks,...
Eine thematische Reflektion uber das Eintreten in oder das Austreten aus einer Institution verlan... more Eine thematische Reflektion uber das Eintreten in oder das Austreten aus einer Institution verlangt vorab eine Definition des Begriffs. Eine wahre Herausforderung! Denn das Bedeutungsspektrum reicht von sehr abstrakten sozialen Organisationsformen – Heirat, politische Parteien und Justiz – bis hin zu namentlich bekannten Einrichtungen in jeweils ganz spezifi schen Orten: das Internat von Pre Fleuri, der Gruppenraum des Mont Tendre oder das Gefangnis der Tuilerien… Die Polysemie des zentralen Begriffs unseres Dossiers – einige wurden sogar eine beruhmte Person als Institution ansehen – widersteht jeglicher Versuchung ihn konzeptuell prazis zu erfassen, um diese 16. Ausgabe der Zeitschrift Tsantsa einzuleiten. In den letzten Jahren hat eine Vielzahl von AutorInnen aus den Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften zu diesem Thema kontrastreiche Beitrage geleistet.
As exchanges of instrumental support between kin and non-kin remain essential to buffer the impac... more As exchanges of instrumental support between kin and non-kin remain essential to buffer the impact of critical life events, we consider the characteristics of personal configurations that may enhance or hinder them. Personal configurations vary in terms of their composition and two aspects of their structure: density and centrality. These dimensions are investigated to uncover whether they influence the type of instrumental support being exchanged (financial, material, and care) and the likelihood of their being reciprocal. Drawing on a representative sample of individuals living in Switzerland, results show that overall instrumental support is present in all personal configurations irrespective of their composition, but financial support is more prevalent in configurations based on parent–adult child relationships. Furthermore, configuration structures characterized by density of emotional support are positively associated with giving care support and with reciprocity, while those ...
Cadre de la recherche : Dans un contexte caractérisé à la fois par une augmentation du nombre de ... more Cadre de la recherche : Dans un contexte caractérisé à la fois par une augmentation du nombre de séparations et par la pérennité d’un idéal conjugal, une rupture conjugale est un événement qui est vécu comme une épreuve personnelle et douloureuse par les individus concernés, notamment parce qu’elle signifie non seulement la fin d’un couple, mais va aussi de pair avec une transformation du réseau personnel.Objectifs : Nous étudierons ici comment les individus reforment les frontières de leur réseau personnel autour des personnes qui leur ont apporté du soutien et de la reconnaissance au cours du processus de rupture conjugale, et examinerons les négociations visant un juste partage, entre les ex-conjoints, de ces relations auparavant communes, ainsi que les sentiments – notamment, d’injustice – engendrés par ce partage.Méthodologie : Cet article se fonde sur une analyse fine d’entretiens qualitatifs réalisés en Suisse et en Angleterre auprès de jeunes adultes qui se sont séparés d’un...
As in other European countries, the Swiss child protection system has gone through substantial ch... more As in other European countries, the Swiss child protection system has gone through substantial changes in the course of the 20th century up to today. Increasingly, the needs as well as the participation of children and parents affected by child protection interventions have become a central concern. In Switzerland, critical debates around care-related detention of children and adults until 1981 have led to the launch of the National Research Program ‘Welfare and Coercion—Past, Present and Future’ (NRP 76), with the aim of understanding past and current welfare practices. This paper is based on our research project, which is part of this national program. We first discuss three overarching concepts—integrity, autonomy and participation—at the heart of a theoretical framework in order to understand the position of parents and children in child protection proceedings. Secondly, we critically analyze the historical and legal development of the child protection system in Switzerland and ...
This article explores online narratives of the loss or change of friendships following an intimat... more This article explores online narratives of the loss or change of friendships following an intimate partner relationship breakdown. Drawing on internet forum discussions, we explore individuals’ transitions from coupled to single, and the multiple ways in which this affects their friendship ties. Forum users struggled to reconcile friends’ abandonment or distance with cultural representations of friendship as providing intense emotional support during critical life transitions. Users also reflect on the impact of their recent singlehood on friendships established and maintained while coupled, with relationship breakdown illuminating previously unacknowledged couple privilege. We argue that the loss of friendships exacerbated and became part of the break-up experience, illustrating the embedded nature of relationships (Smart, 2007). Relationship breakdown is perceived as acting as an ‘ordeal’ for friendship, revealing the depth and quality of existing ties, as users reflect on their o...
Over the life course, individuals develop personal networks that provide essential resources, spo... more Over the life course, individuals develop personal networks that provide essential resources, sporadically or on a daily basis, such as instrumental, emotional, and informational support. Those personal networks are composed of family (i.e., primary and extended kin) and nonfamily ties (i.e., friends, colleagues, acquaintances) (Pahl and Spencer 2004). The prominence of specific ties varies across the life course depending on life stages, transitions, and events. Following the linked-lives principles (Elder et al. 2003), these transitions trigger changes in household composition, promoting different types of relational interdependencies. The level of interdependence with some household members may have a cumulative effect by strengthening the bonds, whereas with others the effect may be more ephemeral and lead to the exclusion of such ties in current personal networks. Thus, coresidence trajectories, such as the experience of growing up in a two or one-parent family, leaving the parental home early or late, moving in with a partner or living alone, becoming a parent, divorcing, and other events, will differentially influence the composition of personal networks.
Individual life courses may be defined as sequences of status profiles. They are multidimensional... more Individual life courses may be defined as sequences of status profiles. They are multidimensional in the sense that they unfold simultaneously in various interdependent life domains such as family and occupation. In the Swiss welfare state system, family is considered as a private matter and only limited extra-familial childcare facilities are provided. Hence, in Switzerland, transition to parenthood often leads to life course gendering regarding these two central domains. While most men follow full-time employment trajectories, most women withdraw, temporarily or not, from the labor market by choosing part-time jobs that are structurally more compatible with raising children. Correlatively, the personal networks of relationships in which individuals are embedded are also gendered. Fostering relationships, either with family members or with other close people, has often been described as a woman's role. This gendered social participation of women and men further leads to the dev...
Comment se prépare et s'expérimente la transition à l'âge adulte lors de placements juvén... more Comment se prépare et s'expérimente la transition à l'âge adulte lors de placements juvéniles? Ce livre est une invitation à entrer dans la réalité institutionnelle d’adolescentes et d’adolescents proches de leur majorité, placés dans des structures d’hébergement socio-éducatives, appelées aussi foyers. Basé sur un riche matériel de terrain, il dévoile toute la complexité du travail d’accompagnement en interrogeant la place centrale accordée à la notion d’autonomie dans les prises en charge éducatives. Il prend appui autant sur le point de vue des professionnel·le·s que sur celui des jeunes placé·e·s pour montrer comment les dimensions identitaires, civiles et citoyennes viennent s'adosser à la mission de ces institutions, en particulier lors des nombreuses séquences ritualisées qui rythment le vivre ensemble jour après jour. Il en résulte une analyse anthropologique originale du placement juvénile qui intéressera le monde professionnel directement aux prises avec les r...
Bei unserer Studie zu den Identitätsprozessen, die von jungen Menschen beider Geschlechter in off... more Bei unserer Studie zu den Identitätsprozessen, die von jungen Menschen beider Geschlechter in offenen Genfer Jugendheimen durchlebt werden, wollten wir uns ursprünglich nur mit bestimmten Praktiken und Konzepten im Zusammenhang mit unserer Problemstellung befassen – der Frage, wie die Jugendlichen und die Mitglieder der Betreuungsteams die Bezugssysteme der Zugehörigkeit und die damit verbundenen Gefühle in Szene setzen.
In ethnological research, what are the means available to record the different stages of an inves... more In ethnological research, what are the means available to record the different stages of an investigation, from the first step in the field to the final conclusions? This article examines how the field journal can serve as a dynamic way with which to track each stage of the research process. Based on thirteen months fieldwork in three juvenile facilities for abused and/or delinquent teenagers in Geneva, we investigate the process of writing fieldnotes and the sharing of a single field journal among three researchers. Firstly, our findings show that the field journal is created through relationships formed in the field. The researcher taking fieldnotes in front of others can be seen to inspire curiosity and provoke interesting reactions; teenagers and social workers were found to reveal or actively hide information according to their individual interests in the research outcome. Secondly, we focus on the collaborative process that occurs between researchers who have different access ...
""Comment se prépare et s'expérimente la transition à l'âge adulte lors de placements juvéniles? ... more ""Comment se prépare et s'expérimente la transition à l'âge adulte lors de placements juvéniles? Ce livre est une invitation à entrer dans la réalité institutionnelle d’adolescentes et d’adolescents proches de leur majorité, placés dans des structures d’hébergement socio-éducatives, appelées aussi foyers. Basé sur un riche matériel de terrain, il dévoile toute la complexité du travail d’accompagnement en interrogeant la place centrale accordée à la notion d’autonomie dans les prises en charge éducatives. Il prend appui autant sur le point de vue des professionnel·le·s que sur celui des jeunes placé·e·s pour montrer comment les dimensions identitaires, civiles et citoyennes viennent s'adosser à la mission de ces institutions, en particulier lors des nombreuses séquences ritualisées qui rythment le vivre ensemble jour après jour.
Il en résulte une analyse anthropologique originale du placement juvénile qui intéressera le monde professionnel directement aux prises avec les réalités de ces adolescentes et de ces adolescents souvent issus de groupes socio-économiques défavorisés. Les réflexions proposées intéresseront également le monde des sciences sociales soucieux de comprendre la façon dont les institutions articulent des vécus singuliers aux attentes politiques et sociales qui pèsent sur une partie de la jeunesse.""
Résumé
Cadre de la recherche : Dans un contexte caractérisé à la fois par une augmentation du no... more Résumé
Cadre de la recherche : Dans un contexte caractérisé à la fois par une augmentation du nombre de séparations et par la pérennité d’un idéal conjugal, une rupture conjugale est un événement qui est vécu comme une épreuve personnelle et douloureuse par les individus concernés, notamment parce qu’elle signifie non seulement la fin d’un couple, mais va aussi de pair avec une transformation du réseau personnel.
Objectifs : Nous étudierons ici comment les individus reforment les frontières de leur réseau personnel autour des personnes qui leur ont apporté du soutien et de la reconnaissance au cours du processus de rupture conjugale, et examinerons les négociations visant un juste partage, entre les ex-conjoints, de ces relations auparavant communes, ainsi que les sentiments – notamment, d’injustice – engendrés par ce partage.
Méthodologie : Cet article se fonde sur une analyse fine d’entretiens qualitatifs réalisés en Suisse et en Angleterre auprès de jeunes adultes qui se sont séparés d’un(e) conjoint(e) avec qui ils(elles) habitaient et avaient formé un projet de vie commune.
Résultats : Nous montrerons qu’il y a à la fois des gains et des pertes à l’issue de ce processus, et distinguerons cinq types de reconfiguration du réseau personnel : expansion amicale, recul amical, en négociation, refuge parental et nouvelle union. Nous verrons que cette reconfiguration s’accompagne également d’un récit qui est centré sur un concept de justice se déclinant en trois principes : la propriété, le partage à parts égales et le degré de culpabilité.
Conclusions : Nous mettrons en lumière en quoi ce travail sur les frontières est à la fois concret (perte et ajout de relations ainsi que réévaluation du degré d’investissement) et sémantique (par le récit élaboré). Nous y constaterons à la fois un processus de fermeture des frontières autour des personnes qui ont su être soutenantes et un processus d’ouverture pour aller au-delà de la relation conjugale.
Contribution : Cet article invite à une réflexion sur la reconfiguration des frontières de l’intimité et sur un nouveau rapport à la conjugalité ; en effet, une rupture conjugale entre jeunes adultes s’accompagne souvent d’espoirs pour la formation d’un nouveau couple.
//
Title: "Narratives of intimate relationship breakdowns: “creating meaning” by negotiating network boundaries"
Abstract
Research framework: In a context characterized both by an increase in the number of separations and by the persistence of the model of coupledom, an intimate relationship breakdown is an event that is experienced as a personal and painful ordeal by the individuals concerned. It is particularly the case since it does not only mean the end of a relationship, but also goes hand in hand with a transformation of their personal network.
Objectives: We study how individuals reform the boundaries of their personal network around the people who have provided them with support and recognition. We also look at the negotiations aiming toward a fair distribution – among ex-partners – of these formerly common relationships and at the feelings, notably of injustice, generated by this sharing process.
Methodology: This article is based on a detailed analysis of qualitative interviews conducted with young adults in Switzerland and England who separated from a partner with whom they used to live and had formed a common life project.
Results: We show that there are both gains and losses and that five types of network can be distinguished: friendly expansion, friendly retreat, in negotiation, parental refuge and new union. This reconfiguration is also accompanied by a narrative that is centred on a concept of justice based on three principles: ownership, equal sharing and degree of guilt.
Conclusions: We reveal that this work on boundaries is both concrete (loss and addition of relationships and reassessment of the degree of investment) and semantic (through the narrative developed). There is both a process of closing boundaries around people who have been supportive and a process of opening up to go beyond the couple relationship.
Contribution: This article is an invitation to reflect on the reconfiguration of the boundaries of intimacy and a new understanding of conjugality, since an intimate relationship breakdown for young adults is often accompanied by hopes for the formation of a new couple.
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Papers by Gaëlle Aeby
Il en résulte une analyse anthropologique originale du placement juvénile qui intéressera le monde professionnel directement aux prises avec les réalités de ces adolescentes et de ces adolescents souvent issus de groupes socio-économiques défavorisés. Les réflexions proposées intéresseront également le monde des sciences sociales soucieux de comprendre la façon dont les institutions articulent des vécus singuliers aux attentes politiques et sociales qui pèsent sur une partie de la jeunesse.""
Cadre de la recherche : Dans un contexte caractérisé à la fois par une augmentation du nombre de séparations et par la pérennité d’un idéal conjugal, une rupture conjugale est un événement qui est vécu comme une épreuve personnelle et douloureuse par les individus concernés, notamment parce qu’elle signifie non seulement la fin d’un couple, mais va aussi de pair avec une transformation du réseau personnel.
Objectifs : Nous étudierons ici comment les individus reforment les frontières de leur réseau personnel autour des personnes qui leur ont apporté du soutien et de la reconnaissance au cours du processus de rupture conjugale, et examinerons les négociations visant un juste partage, entre les ex-conjoints, de ces relations auparavant communes, ainsi que les sentiments – notamment, d’injustice – engendrés par ce partage.
Méthodologie : Cet article se fonde sur une analyse fine d’entretiens qualitatifs réalisés en Suisse et en Angleterre auprès de jeunes adultes qui se sont séparés d’un(e) conjoint(e) avec qui ils(elles) habitaient et avaient formé un projet de vie commune.
Résultats : Nous montrerons qu’il y a à la fois des gains et des pertes à l’issue de ce processus, et distinguerons cinq types de reconfiguration du réseau personnel : expansion amicale, recul amical, en négociation, refuge parental et nouvelle union. Nous verrons que cette reconfiguration s’accompagne également d’un récit qui est centré sur un concept de justice se déclinant en trois principes : la propriété, le partage à parts égales et le degré de culpabilité.
Conclusions : Nous mettrons en lumière en quoi ce travail sur les frontières est à la fois concret (perte et ajout de relations ainsi que réévaluation du degré d’investissement) et sémantique (par le récit élaboré). Nous y constaterons à la fois un processus de fermeture des frontières autour des personnes qui ont su être soutenantes et un processus d’ouverture pour aller au-delà de la relation conjugale.
Contribution : Cet article invite à une réflexion sur la reconfiguration des frontières de l’intimité et sur un nouveau rapport à la conjugalité ; en effet, une rupture conjugale entre jeunes adultes s’accompagne souvent d’espoirs pour la formation d’un nouveau couple.
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Title: "Narratives of intimate relationship breakdowns: “creating meaning” by negotiating network boundaries"
Abstract
Research framework: In a context characterized both by an increase in the number of separations and by the persistence of the model of coupledom, an intimate relationship breakdown is an event that is experienced as a personal and painful ordeal by the individuals concerned. It is particularly the case since it does not only mean the end of a relationship, but also goes hand in hand with a transformation of their personal network.
Objectives: We study how individuals reform the boundaries of their personal network around the people who have provided them with support and recognition. We also look at the negotiations aiming toward a fair distribution – among ex-partners – of these formerly common relationships and at the feelings, notably of injustice, generated by this sharing process.
Methodology: This article is based on a detailed analysis of qualitative interviews conducted with young adults in Switzerland and England who separated from a partner with whom they used to live and had formed a common life project.
Results: We show that there are both gains and losses and that five types of network can be distinguished: friendly expansion, friendly retreat, in negotiation, parental refuge and new union. This reconfiguration is also accompanied by a narrative that is centred on a concept of justice based on three principles: ownership, equal sharing and degree of guilt.
Conclusions: We reveal that this work on boundaries is both concrete (loss and addition of relationships and reassessment of the degree of investment) and semantic (through the narrative developed). There is both a process of closing boundaries around people who have been supportive and a process of opening up to go beyond the couple relationship.
Contribution: This article is an invitation to reflect on the reconfiguration of the boundaries of intimacy and a new understanding of conjugality, since an intimate relationship breakdown for young adults is often accompanied by hopes for the formation of a new couple.