ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the study through a brief ethnographic insight into the field and five research questions. Previous research in the area is discussed to contextualize and justify the study. The research revolves around school and crime, the social control of schoolwork, schooling for institutionalized youth, and institutional treatment of young people in general. Furthermore, the scholarly debate on the so-called Nordic exceptionalism and its relevance to the study is examined. Key theoretical concepts are outlined (although much of the theoretical discussion in the study is integrated into the analytical chapters): accounts and accountability, vocabularies of motives, typifications, social control and doing gender, interactions, ethno-methods, and social constructions. Finally, the study's methods and materials are presented. The study is an ethnographic investigation of special residential homes in Sweden (here called youth detention homes), run by the National Board of Institutional Care, where schoolwork is the focal point. Qualitative interviews and participant observation from five institutions constitute the primary methods, but the study also incorporates results from telephone interviews. The ethnographic fieldwork is described, including the generation of fieldnotes, the researcher's role, and ethical considerations.
