Border Shifts: On the Relationship Between Residential Care, Flight and the Police in Germany

Abstract

Young people of color are affected by criminalization. This article addresses the question of how social work in the context of institutionalized out-of-home placement is framed by the ubiquity of national borders and police practices. It empirically traces that racial profiling manifests itself through ritualistic repetition. It is shown that the formal character of so-called dangerous places classified as criminogenic is transferred to youth-serving organizations through informal police practices.