2016 Volume 67 Issue 2 Pages 148-165
Recently, with increasing attention focused on children's rights, assuring “individuality” for children in social care has become important in Japan. Specifically, there is a strong emphasis on making childcare facilities be like home. This paper aims to examine the validity of the home as an ideal model for residential childcare.
First, after reviewing debates on the home as an ideal model of residential childcare and the criticisms of family sociologists, this paper shows the effectiveness of articulating the notion of individuality. Second, this paper indicates the validity of setting up children's self-reliance support facility Z, and explains the methods of investigation. Third, the data collected are analyzed. It was found that under the group-living conditions in Z, some aspects of individuality were certainly infringed upon; however, care functions that could not be accomplished at home were achieved. Based on this evidence, this paper claims that regarding the home as an ideal model of residential childcare has three problems: (1) It conceals caretakers' difficulties at home, (2) it prevents the correction of gaps among children, and (3) it veils the diverse method of childcare except a way that few caretakers care for a few children. In conclusion, this paper discusses the possibility of overcoming the problems of residential childcare by deploying additional staff members, and claims that the idea that home is the ideal place of care is not necessarily valid.
