ABSTRACT
Secure Children’s Homes are locked institutions accommodating children who have been deprived of their liberty. This chapter provides rare insight into staff roles and relations inside a Secure Children’s Home in England, drawing on data generated from a unique in-depth ethnography. Analysis of observations, interviews and informal conversations provides new knowledge about the institutional setting, how staff groups are organised, what they do, how they present themselves and how they interact. Concepts from Goffman’s (1959) dramaturgical perspective are used to theorise the staff as enacting roles, with the young people conceived of as the audience to their performances. The chapter details how tensions arose and communication broke down between the care and education staff following the introduction of ‘teaching assistants’ which led to frustrations for the staff and the young people. The chapter ends by making recommendations for a child-centred approach in residential childcare institutions responsible for educating young people.
