Since the turn of the century large groups of former institutionalised children have exercised their right to see their "personal files", and this has drawn widespread attention to these documents and their potential in scholarly research. This article explores the meanings of personal files from the period 1945-1984 as sources for both…

The establishment of the Central Observation Institute in Mol in 1913 marks the introduction of scientific expertise in Belgium's youth delinquency policy. The child at risk was subjected to a series of observations, resulting in an observation report ('waarnemingsverslag') that contained the psychological, moral and physical characteristics of…