Latent scrutiny : Personal archives as perpetual mementos of the official gaze
- Authors: Wilson, Jacqueline , Golding, Frank
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Archival Science Vol. 16, no. 1 (2016), p. 93-109
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- Description: This article examines the significance, in the lives of those who experienced out-of-home care as children, of the archived records of their institutionalisation. The affective ramifications of accessing the records as adults are discussed, with especial focus on the records' capacity to revive past suffering. Drawing on the work of Bruner (Crit Inq Autumn 1-21,1991, Consumption and everyday life, Sage, London, 1997) and MacIntyre (After virtue: a study in moral theory, University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, 1981), a 'narrative' model of the self is utilised to account for the negative effect of systemic flaws in the records' original composition. Such flaws, it is argued, have the potential to disrupt the individual's sense of self. Both the authors, who experienced out-of-home care as children, present their own experiences of accessing the records, as case studies. The records' manifold inaccuracies and inadequacies are interpreted in the light of prevailing welfare practices, in particular a highly damaging judgemental paradigm of gendered and moralistic assumptions of the inferior character of those in care. The authors conclude by arguing that research into the archives should involve the direct participation, as 'insider researchers', of those who experienced the matters contained in the records. Such participation is essential if the process of revealing and interpreting the archives is to maintain the dignity of the records' subject individuals, and ensure the integrity of the research. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.
Contested memories : Caring about the past - or past caring?
- Authors: Wilson, Jacqueline , Golding, Frank
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Apologies and the legacy of abuse of children in 'care' : International perspectives p. i-217
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- Description: This chapter examines the range and form of narratives that give voice to approximately 500,000 'Forgotten Australians' who experienced out-of-home 'care' as children under the auspices of state government departments and/or non-government charitable organisations. These narratives are derived from the work of stakeholder support groups, official inquiries and academic historians. Among those working in this field, the authors have the unusual advantage of being both stakeholders and academics. They experienced out-of-home care as children and therefore qualify as Forgotten Australians, and are among the small number of care-leavers to have established academic careers. The few academics who come from care-leaver backgrounds attest to the manifold life-obstacles care-leavers encounter and the enduring 'headwinds' they must face in pursuing relatively unremarkable goals and aspirations, long after leaving care. It is this abiding personal burden that makes the task of restoring to them their voices, through the collection and propagation of their narratives, both necessary and urgent.