Conflict and Consensus in Interdisciplinary Cooperation about Children in Difficulties

Abstract

During the last decade or so, there has been an increasing focus on developing strategies of cooperation and interdisciplinary meetings between teachers, pedagogues, psychologists, social workers, civil servants etc. in order to avoid interruptions and discontinuity and en- sure coordination and common orientation in the interventions around children in difficul- ties. The main theme of this article is a contrast between conflict and consensus in the inter- disciplinary work: Often the interdisciplin- ary work is founded on ambitions of gaining more compound knowledge on children’s lives from the different and potentially conflict- ing perspectives. However in the empirical data from interdisciplinary meetings the dif- ferences between the different professionals seem to fade – and the knowledge produced seems unequivocal and harmonious. Therefore complex and conflictual knowledge from the child’s everyday life among others seems to be toned down, and instead categories describing individual features of the child as explanations of difficulties seem to dominate.