Folded Files, Unfolding Narratives: Psycho-Pedagogical Observation in the Belgian Juvenile Reformatories, 1912–1945.

Abstract

The establishment of the Central Observation Institute in Mol in 1913 marks the introduction of scientific expertise in Belgium's youth delinquency policy. The child at risk was subjected to a series of observations, resulting in an observation report ('waarnemingsverslag') that contained the psychological, moral and physical characteristics of the delinquent child, and suggested strategies for its re-education. This article puts central the technologies of observation in the first half of the 20 th century. In contrast to earlier research, we use the observation report not as a 'key to the past' but we aim to historicize the observation report in its own right. Using M'charek's concept 'folded object', we discuss the process of truth establishing in the observation report, therein paying attention to the various actors at work in the reformatory and examining the dynamic relationships between the observation and educational institutions in the production and use of the observation files.

Distance and proximity

“…22 Sanction reports and evaluations offer insights into the behaviour of detainees. Since it was left to the discretion of the educator to decide what counted as "unruly behaviour", these sanction reports often contain descriptions of the detainees' 17 See for example De Koster, Niget (2015); Van Ruyskensvelde, Nys (2020). For more details, see François (2005, 227, 425).…”