Abstract:
Between 1949 and 1987 163 South Tyrolean children and adolescents were referred to the psychiatric children’s observation-ward in Innsbruck for further examination, observation and treatment. The majority of these children came from socially non-privileged German-speaking families, many of whom had spent their years previous to admission in foster families or in institutional care. Especially during the 1970s, public welfare authorities in South Tyrol made use of the possibility of referring their “problem children” to the foreign clinical institution,a practice existing since 1955. In many cases this referral was also connected to furtheradmission to Austrian care-institutions. The Innsbruck children’s observation-ward therefore became an important place of medical treatment and estimation for South Tyrolean children with mental handicaps, behavioural disorders or school problems. This paper deals with the phenomenon of delegating care-work, which bears analogy to the treatment and admission practice in the field of general psychiatry. The paper is based on mental records from thechildren’s observation-ward and contemporary sources by the South Tyrolean State Administration found in the South Tyrolean State Archive.