Communicating power and resistance: exploring interactions between aboriginal youth and non-aboriginal staff members in a residential child welfare facility

ABSTRACT

Aboriginal youth are highly overrepresented within the child welfare system. High-risk youth are often placed in out-of-community residential placements. Such residential placements have been described by some as a continuation of colonial practices. Using communication theory as a conceptual model, we propose a qualitative analysis of micro-interactions that take place between Aboriginal youth and non-Aboriginal workers during the management of high-risk behaviors within a residential program. Three broad categories of interaction emerge from the data: complementary, symmetrical/complementary (where youth show a form of submission despite resistance), and symmetrical (characterized by a power struggle). Despite the diversity of interactions along this symmetrical to complementary continuum, interventions always start and finish in the same fashion. Moreover, the nature of interactions depended mostly on how quickly youth accepted the consequences of their behaviors. We also extracted five categories related to culture, race or context that are perceived as influencing the interactions that take place between staff and youth. The analysis of micro-interactions within clinical, organizational, social and historical contexts points to mechanisms by which asymmetrical power relations may be replicated on a day-to-day basis despite the best intentions of residential workers.

KEYWORDS:

• Aboriginal youth
• child and youth protection
• communication theories
• interactionism
• critical social work

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the Board of Health and Social Services of the region for their support and funding of secondary analysis of data collected in residence for evaluative purposes. We would also like to thank the directors, staff, and youth of the residence for allowing the evaluation to take place and for participating in an ongoing reflection on the evaluation. We recognize and acknowledge that the directors and staff were constantly exploring ways of being as present and caring for the youth as possible within this very complex context. We would also like to thank Maria J. Arauz and Pamela Burmester for all their hard work.

Notes

1. The cultural identity of youth and the location of provenance will not be disclosed in order to ensure anonymity of the residence, staff and youth. We are well aware of the important cultural, historical, geographical, and economic specificities of Aboriginal communities throughout Canada and by no means do we wish to create a monolithic view of Aboriginal peoples of Canada.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sarah Fraser

Sarah Fraser is a clinical psychologist for children and adolescents having experienced abuse and neglect. She is an assistant professor at the school of Psychoeducation at Université de Montréal and researcher at the Institut de Santé Publique de l’Université de Montréal where she does action research in the field of Aboriginal health and wellbeing, culture and intervention.

Mélanie Vachon

Mélanie Vachon is a clinical psychologist and a professor of Psychology at Université du Quebec à Montreal. She specializes in the field of qualitative methods with a particular interest in trauma, grieving, and sense-making.

Ghayda Hassan

Ghayda Hassan is a clinical psychologist and a professor of Psychology at Université du Quebec à Montreal. Her research and clinical activities focus on contexts of social and family violence with a particular focus on culture, wellbeing and mental health.

Valérie Parent

Valérie Parent is a master student in the field of Psychoeducation at Université de Montréal. In her studies she adopts an interactionist perspective to explore relationships between youth and staff in residential placements.