Underprivileged children in the social space of impunity: The example of the children’s residential care system in the Polish People’s Republic
Underprivileged children in the social space of impunity: The example of the children’s residential care system in the Polish People’s Republic

Summary/Abstract: This paper treats the social conditionings of institutional violence. First the very notion of the impunity, which creates the theoretical foundation of the consideration, is briefly discussed, followed by treatment of the scheme of the institutional(-ised) space of impunity with its constituent elements: common beliefs regarding the “nature” of the marginalised collectivity, the low social value ascribed to the collectivity, an ideological embargo on scientificallybased knowledge, and the expulsion of the marginalised from normals’ field of vision. In the main part of the article the author presents a historic example of a social space of impunity: the children’s residential care system in the Polish People’s Republic (PPR). Examples of institutional and private violence in this space of impunity are depicted in the final part of the text. The narrative and biographical interviews with institutional care-givers, narrators’ files analysis and FGIs constitute the empirical basis of the article.

• Details
• Contents