An ethnographic investigation by a researcher-operator
This article describes an ethnographic research of the professions born within the reception system in the Autonomous Province of Trento. The basic question arises in the field thanks to the researcher’s experience as a reception operator with the Centro Astalli Association in the Autonomous Province of Trento, which constitutes the in-depth empirical case.
The participant observation, together with 55 in-depth interviews with reception operators, brought out the importance that the choices, roles and values of the operators assume in influencing the meaning of the reception practiced and sometimes even the paths of integration of beneficiaries. The analysis tried to bring out the training and skills, both preliminary and learned in the field, of this (new) professional figure.
