Barnavården år 1900-1940: Ett offentligt uppdrag eller privat angelägenhet? : En lokalstudie över barnavårdsnämnden i Karlstad stad och Karlstad landsförsamling genom ett maktperspektiv

Sammanfattning: The following essay is conducted both from a local perspective in Sweden. The source material used have been analyzed through a power-theory drawn by professor Raymond Angelo Belliotti who has a Ph.D in philosophy. Belliotti’s theories are used to identify different kinds of power structures within child welfare in Sweden during the period 1900-1940. The central concept is power over which is used in analyzing the power structures. The power relationships become apparent when analyzing and identifying who supposedly has the most power by using the concept mentioned. In this essay, I want to investigate source material from two different child welfare boards in both Karlstad city and Karlstad’s national assembly. My essay is based on the following questions: In what ways can the power-relations become apparent by applying Belliotti’s theories on source material from two different child welfare boards? Based on the results from the first question, was children considered a collective mission or private matter?    The study shows that the relationship between parents, children and the child welfare board had a more dynamic relationship concerning power. In the source material from Karlstad’s national assembly child welfare board it is shown that there are some findings that could be used to discuss the power relationship. The results are that there was a strong sense of surveillance over both parents and children born outside marriage. There were more concrete situations in the source material from Karlstad city’s child welfare board. The results showed the most prominent kind of power-structure would be the one regarding concerning regulations and individuals however the dynamic kind of power-relation could also be seen in this instance when using Belliottis theories. By doing this study it became apparent that children that crossed juridical boundaries did become a public mission and there was no resistance about this matter in the studied sources.