Falling through the cracks: critical review of the deinstitutionalisation process in a post-socialist state

Throughout Eastern Europe, the attempts to carry out successful deinstitutionalisation (DI) have been hampered by the legacy of Soviet-era practices of care. In Latvia, it is present in the form of residential schools for children with special needs which continue to host a large proportion of child...

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Main Authors: Kārlis Lakševics, Artūrs Pokšāns, Kristians Zalāns
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: CELCIS 2018-11-01
Series:Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care
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author Kārlis Lakševics
Artūrs Pokšāns
Kristians Zalāns
author_facet Kārlis Lakševics
Artūrs Pokšāns
Kristians Zalāns
author_sort Kārlis Lakševics
collection DOAJ
description Throughout Eastern Europe, the attempts to carry out successful deinstitutionalisation (DI) have been hampered by the legacy of Soviet-era practices of care. In Latvia, it is present in the form of residential schools for children with special needs which continue to host a large proportion of children with disabilities. In order to monitor the progress that has been made since ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities a nationwide evaluation of accessibility of employment and education was carried out. Using the data from this work, we argue that due to the fragmented implementation of DI and lack of a child centred approach throughout the education sector, despite educators firmly believing they are acting in the best interests of children, current practices of care contribute to the creation of ‘inclusive exclusion’. Using the theoretical framework of Giorgio Agamben, we propose viewing the current approach to DI as one that sustains the exclusion of children with disabilities by increasingly marginalising children with severe disabilities by keeping them segregated in special forms of residential care. We show how this approach is primarily rooted in the specialist-based approach being seen as the most effective form of care for children with disabilities.
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series Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care
spelling doaj-art-aeda7906bbc74450b44aedf1c4a881cb2025-08-20T02:33:48ZengCELCISScottish Journal of Residential Child Care2976-93532018-11-01174274710.17868/strath.00084545Falling through the cracks: critical review of the deinstitutionalisation process in a post-socialist stateKārlis LakševicsArtūrs PokšānsKristians ZalānsThroughout Eastern Europe, the attempts to carry out successful deinstitutionalisation (DI) have been hampered by the legacy of Soviet-era practices of care. In Latvia, it is present in the form of residential schools for children with special needs which continue to host a large proportion of children with disabilities. In order to monitor the progress that has been made since ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities a nationwide evaluation of accessibility of employment and education was carried out. Using the data from this work, we argue that due to the fragmented implementation of DI and lack of a child centred approach throughout the education sector, despite educators firmly believing they are acting in the best interests of children, current practices of care contribute to the creation of ‘inclusive exclusion’. Using the theoretical framework of Giorgio Agamben, we propose viewing the current approach to DI as one that sustains the exclusion of children with disabilities by increasingly marginalising children with severe disabilities by keeping them segregated in special forms of residential care. We show how this approach is primarily rooted in the specialist-based approach being seen as the most effective form of care for children with disabilities.deinstitutuionalisationpost-sovietexclusiondisability
spellingShingle Kārlis Lakševics
Artūrs Pokšāns
Kristians Zalāns
Falling through the cracks: critical review of the deinstitutionalisation process in a post-socialist state
Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care
deinstitutuionalisation
post-soviet
exclusion
disability
title Falling through the cracks: critical review of the deinstitutionalisation process in a post-socialist state
title_full Falling through the cracks: critical review of the deinstitutionalisation process in a post-socialist state
title_fullStr Falling through the cracks: critical review of the deinstitutionalisation process in a post-socialist state
title_full_unstemmed Falling through the cracks: critical review of the deinstitutionalisation process in a post-socialist state
title_short Falling through the cracks: critical review of the deinstitutionalisation process in a post-socialist state
title_sort falling through the cracks critical review of the deinstitutionalisation process in a post socialist state
topic deinstitutuionalisation
post-soviet
exclusion
disability
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AT arturspoksans fallingthroughthecrackscriticalreviewofthedeinstitutionalisationprocessinapostsocialiststate
AT kristianszalans fallingthroughthecrackscriticalreviewofthedeinstitutionalisationprocessinapostsocialiststate