Experiences of violence are relatively common among youth in care, and also during treatment there are violent incidents. Previous research often refers to inmates’ subcultures or ”codes” as an explanation, but scholars’ increasing attention to people’s reflexive ”doings” of identities and contexts makes it more difficult to use such terms.

This project approaches the issue in a more updated fashion. By studying violent situations and their wider contexts from an interactionist perspective – the foreground and background of violence – we may generate a more complete picture of violent occurrences within institutions. The project includes (1) case descriptions, (2) sequential and institutional analyses, and (3) stories about non-violence.