Das Scheitern der Mütter. Zur Reproduktion von psychiatrisch-psychologischen Konzepten in Fremdplatzierungsprozessen im Kanton Bern, 1960–1980

Abstract

In the canton of Bern in the 1960s and 1970s, guardianship authorities and schools often turn to the educational counselling service (ECS), the child and adolescent psychiatric service (CAPS) or the Neuhaus children observation center when they notice deviant behavior in children and adolescents. In the assessments carried out by these institutions, the mother often becomes the focus of attention. In this contribution, we reconstruct the different lines of argumentation of the ECS, CAPS, and the Neuhaus in child placement processes: they assess the mothers’ parenting, describe how work-related absences affect the children and adolescents under investigation, or describe mothers who do not cooperate as incompetent. From this perspective, being a mother becomes investigable, assessable and mobilizable – and thus a priori discreditable. Social and psychiatric diagnoses confirm each other and ultimately produce the «neglected» child that is to be placed in a home or a foster family.