BETWEEN EXCLUSION AND INTEGRATION: ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON CHILDCARE IN ROMANIAN HOSPITALS

• Main Author: Naoki ASADA
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: “Francisc I. Rainer” Anthropology Institute of the Romanian Academy. 2020-08-01
• Series: Anthropological Researches and Studies
• Subjects: social exclusion; relatedness; abandoned children; romania
• Online Access: https://www.journalstudiesanthropology.ro/en/between-exclusion-and-integration-anthropological-research-on-childcare-in-romanian-hospitals/a142/
• ISSN: 2360-3445; 2360-3445

Objectives. This article aims to anthropologically investigate a space where abandoned children in Romania live. The space appears as a result of exclusion of the children from family and following lives in hospital where they are, nonetheless, included in Romanian society. Through examination of Romanian abandoned children, there were critically analysed conceptual dichotomy of social exclusion and inclusion. Material and methods. To achieve the objective above, there were used both qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data was collected as a result of the author’s own fieldwork in Romania in May 2012, and as qualitative data, the study regards some statistical data provided by the Romanian government and international organisations. For fieldwork, there were conducted semi-structured interviews to social workers, NGO staffs and governmental officers in a county office and a city hall. In addition to this demarche, there was carried out the observation in hospitals where the social workers and NGO staffs worked. Results. Consequently, abandoned children were not excluded from the society and actually were included from legal and societal points of view. However, there was found that these children were not integrated or related to their families as well as the society. This unrelatedness seems to lead them to vulnerability in physical, psychological and spiritual meanings. Conclusions. Eventually, it can be described the space where the children lived as a space between exclusion and integration, insisting on the fact that these children need to be examined by a three-layer concept of exclusion, inclusion and integration.