| Abstract
| - SUMMARY. Our attention in this paper centres on aspects of daily life in a local authority Home for Adolescents. We focus on the contradictions and dilemmas surrounding the staff's efforts to regulate the experiences of their charges; especially, on the tensions arising from attempts to channel the residents', the ‘children's’ sexuality. In so doing, we seek to relate local, managerial conflicts to broader, to societal issues; in particular, to issues surrounding conceptions of gender, respectability, family life. Drawing on a participant observation study, we argue that sexuality pervades the administration of such a home. We describe the socio-spatial features of the institution, the daily routines of its occupants and the boredom evidenced by residents—their characteristic response to the routines imposed on them. Further, we record aspects of the residents' experiences when released from the Home; their visits to boyfriends, to girlfriends, to clubs and pubs. In short, we contrast the pursuit of respectability within the Home with the search for pleasure outside its confines.
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