Abstract

With the goal of promoting the prevention of institutional violence in the child protection system for vulnerable children in Chile, this study aimed to identify factors that contribute to the emergence of this type of violence. The author conducted fifteen interviews with staff from the outpatient protection programs implemented by the network of agencies that collaborate with the National Children’s Service. Using a qualitative-descriptive design and a content-categorical analysis, the results identified three factors that produce institutional violence: intervention logics, relational framework and practices. The article discusses how these factors operate within a complex production structure that is defined by the dimensions, experiences and effects of violence. These factors are situated in the management-intervention field and associated with the of the New Public Management paradigm that characterizes Chile’s current child protection model.