Amalie Olga Lyngsted

• Presentation
• Research outputs

Alone in the world – An examination of the emotional significance of relationships for children and youth placed in care from 1897-1922.

 This project examines the significance of relationships for children and youth placed in foster care and orphanages from 1897-1922 via the Danish philanthropic organization N. Bangs Virksomhed. The organization N. Bangs Virksomhed was a part of the Danish private childcare movement in the late 19 century and consisted of six different departments including five orphanages and numerous foster families.

In the project, I am employing the methodological concept of emotional echoing in an analysis of letters written by the children and youth throughout their upbringing, this project aims to document the complex myriad of emotions that the children and youth assigned to the different relationships during their childhood and youth.

By approaching the source material with the concept of emotional echoing, the project seeks to bring about new knowledge of these relationships and the impact broken emotional bonds had. This might help nuance our understanding of the meaning of emotional bonds and relationships and through that the experience of being placed in care outside the home.

The project is funded by the independent Danish research fund in affiliation with the Danish National Archives and the University of Copenhagen.

The main supervisor on the project is Karen Vallgårda.