Managerial Discourse, Child Safeguarding, and the Elimination of Virtue from In Loco Parentis Relationships: An Example from Music Education

Abstract

In response to high-profile cases of child abuse and heightened public concern, the safeguarding agenda in England seeks to reform relationships between in loco parentis adults and children or young people across a range of settings, applying managerial methods to regulating conduct. Referring to material relevant to many such settings, this article considers the way in which the application of managerialism has imposed particular approaches to moral issues, specifically by reframing moral distinctions (e.g. 'right' and 'wrong') in terms of technical language and pro/prescriptions of practice. Policies and practices premised on the imperative that touch between adults and children should be avoided at all costs are considered in particular, and the managerial approach is contrasted with ideas derived from MacIntyre's account of practice based on virtue ethics. To exemplify these issues a video campaign, Keeping Children Safe in Music, devised and promoted by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) and the Musicians' Union, and one episode in particular, is analysed. The focus is on how moral (and musical) issues are sidelined and replaced by managerial and defensive instructions, based on the notion that children will be protected from harm if even well-intentioned adults avoid touching them.