Opening doors or building cages? Looping effects of diagnosis in residential child care : a phenomenological account

Children living in residential child care encounter dense networks of assessment, screening, and diagnostic language. While such classifications are commonly intended to support care planning and access to resources, they also shape how young people are anticipated, engaged with, and come to understand themselves. Drawing on Ian Hacking’s concept of looping effects and a phenomenological framework, this conceptual article examines how diagnostic and carestatus labels function within residential