Het evidence-beest en de normativiteit van opvoeding

Abstract
The Evidence ‘Beast’ and the Normativity of Child-Rearing
In 2008 Micha de Winter warned people to watch out for, what he coined, ‘the
Evidence Beast’, referring to a too narrow focus within the Dutch youth care
system on evidence and effectivity. This concern was also the main instigator
for my PhD research conducted under his (and Prof. Koops’) supervision. In
this article I address some of the ‘beasts’ of a strict evidence-based focus
within the professional field of youth care. Some of these problems are related
to the ways in which EBP is used in the Dutch youth care system (a strict focus
on effectivity, a lack of professional reflection and a lack of professionals’
discretionary power). The most important and most Dewinterian issue however
is the implicit normativity in child rearing in contrast to the rather
technical, and presumed neutral, child rearing approach in youth care
interventions. I conclude the article with several suggestions for the future, in
order to give more room to important value-laden elements in the support
that is offered to parents through youth care interventions.