Education in Youth Detention Homes: An Ethnographic Study of Schooling Against the Odds

Drawing upon meticulous ethnographic analysis and unique data sources, this book dissects the multifaceted challenges and occasional victories encountered by both educators and detained youth in Sweden.

Originally published in Swedish, this book provides fresh insights into a crucial aspect of youth care and education. Theoretical underpinnings draw from ethnomethodology’s focus on members’ accounts, complemented by C. Wright Mills’ framework of motives and Erving Goffman’s seminal studies on total institutions. The book also includes seven practical suggestions directed to teachers, but also to pupils, treatment staff, and institutional managers, that aim for translating analytical insights into everyday practice.

Education in Youth Detention Homes will be of interest to researchers and students in criminology, sociology, social anthropology, and social work, as well as to professionals in the field of education for young people at risk of crime, psychosocial problems, and social exclusion.

David Wästerfors is Professor of Sociology at the Department of Sociology, Lund University, Sweden. His publications include Violence - Situation, Specialty, Politics and Storytelling (Routledge, 2022), Analyze! co-authored with Jens Rennstam, and Accessibility Denied (Routledge, 2022), co-edited with Hanna Egard and Kristofer Hansson. His research often focuses on interactions, institutions, emotions, and social control at the intersections of social psychology, cultural sociology, and criminology. His additional and related interests include disability research as well ethnography and qualitative methodology.