Young residents’ view of support persons’ involvement in the institutional treatment programme: a one-year follow-up

Abstract

Many youths placed in residential treatment centres (RTCs) have prior to placement had contact with professional and non-professional support persons (SPs). By interviewing 46 youths (residents) from 10 Swedish RTCs, the present study aims to investigate the residents' view of their relationship with SPs, and, in a one-year follow-up, explore obstacles to or possibilities for maintaining the relationship during the stay at the facility. Results show that 20 residents consider the SPs to be significant adults with an emotional involvement component; seven residents describe their SP as having an instrumental involvement attitude, while 19 residents did not report any significant SP at all. Several obstacles and a few possibilities for involving the SPs were found in the one-year follow-up. Both obstacles and possibilities mainly concerned the willingness of facility staff, and in some cases the social welfare agency staff, to encourage SP involvement. A more systematic SP involvement procedure is needed at the RTC, as well as on the part of the handling officer in the social service agency. Further, it is important that when new residents arrive, staff should make an inventory of important SPs as well as other significant members of the residents' social networks.

Keywords:

• criminality
• substance abuse
• professional helper
• young people
• residential treatment centres

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to all of the participants of the study, and to The Swedish National Board of Institutional Care (SiS) who has supported the present study.