Rhetoric about Vulnerabilities of Childhood in Family Migration. Ad hoc Research and Methodological Errors

The article presents an analysis of ad hoc research carried out by organisations in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, approaching the effects of parent migration abroad on the children staying behind in the country. Apart from the fact that the topic is approached as a means of increasing awareness and putting the issue on the public agenda, the knowledge in this domain is currently fragmentary and hampered by methodological errors as far as the research carried out so far is concerned. The identification of such errors has the role of questioning the way this issue has been researched, and of highlighting the important role as a social actor the child plays in the migrating family. This study presents an analysis of the errors found in the analysed research and highlights their role in the intensification of moral panic regarding the situation of children in migrating families.