journal article
LitStream Collection
Home
2016 Journal of Children s Services
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the psychosocial experience of staff in a UK youth offending team (YOT) who work with adolescents displaying sexually harmful behaviour (SHB).Design/methodology/approachEight participants were questioned by means of a semi-structured interview schedule about their experiences of working with adolescents displaying SHB. Subsequent data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.FindingsThree superordinate themes were identified: client-focused; challenges within the role; and looking after the self. Staff appreciate the factors contributing to SHB and they experience challenges within their role, but are also aware of the importance of maintaining their own well-being. They demonstrate positive attitudes towards young people displaying SHB, whilst contending with the challenge of misconceptions within society. When addressing the self, YOT practitioners are able to adopt both individual and group methods of coping with the nature of the work.Research limitations/implicationsThe participant group could have included a wider range of disciplines as the YOT is a multi-agency service. A further study exploring staff from different professional backgrounds would be of value.Practical implicationsThe findings will be valuable for both practitioners and policy makers working in the field of youth justice as they offer a unique insight into the role of youth justice staff and the complexities within their role when working with a group of young people often vulnerable to poor outcomes. It is important for practitioners and managers to be able to reflect on the challenges in the role in order for clinical supervision to be emphasised when working with this client group.Originality/valueTo the authors’ knowledge this is the first study to provide an in-depth exploration of the experience of UK YOT officers working with adolescents who have displayed SHB.
Fraser, Jennifer Anne; Hutchinson, Marie; Appleton, Jessica
2016 Journal of Children s Services
PurposeChild and family health (CAFH) services in Australia initially provide at least one nurse-home-visit following the birth of a child. Planning and referral then commences for the on-going provision of appropriate services to families. Unfortunately, services in rural and regional communities in Australia can be fragmented and poorly resourced. Little is known about CAFH nurses’ experiences of working with families in these communities. The purpose of this paper is to examine the way CAFH nurses work within a universal health service model that may be compromised by isolation, discontinuity and fragmentation.Design/methodology/approachFocus groups with 26 CAFH nurses from five rural, two regional and one urban community in New South Wales (NSW), Australia were conducted. A secondary, thematic analysis of the qualitative data were undertaken to reflect on change and continuity in the field of universal CAFH services. Analysis was driven by two key research questions: How do CAFH nurses experience their role in universal home-based CAFH services within rural and regional areas of Australia and, what unique factors are present in rural and regional areas that impact on their CAFH nursing role?FindingsThe experience of the CAFH nurses as presented by these data revealed a role that was family centred and concerned for the welfare of the family, yet compromised by the need to meet the disproportionately complex needs of families in the absence of a strong network of services. The opportunity to present the findings provides insight into the way in which families engage with available services in isolated communities. CAFH nurses in the study attempted to maintain service integrity by adapting to the unique context of their work.Originality/valueIt is important to understand the mechanisms through which CAFH nurses operate to work effectively with families referred to their service. This paper describes the way in which CAFH nurses work with families not meeting the threshold for more intensive and targeted home-visiting service delivery in rural and regional communities of NSW, Australia.
Schrader-McMillan, Anita; Herrera, Elsa
2016 Journal of Children s Services
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify elements of success in the family reintegration of children with street connections who have experienced chronic violence and loss in the context of poverty. This paper outlines the application of complex trauma theory into a practice model developed by the JUCONI Foundation in Puebla, Mexico to help children and families prepare and manage reintegration.Design/methodology/approachThis is a 15-month qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with families and boys at three stages: preparing for return, in the first three months of reintegration and successfully reintegrated. The study comprises interviews with frontline workers and focus group discussions with the project team. In addition, six youths who did not return to their families were interviewed.FindingsThe study focuses on an attachment and trauma-based approach to family reintegration of street-connected children outside parental care. The findings highlight the need for careful preparation of both child and families (including siblings/extended family) prior to reunification. Preparation needs to focus on resolving the underlying problems that have led to the child being on the street and “phased” reintegration (beginning with visits to the family) is recommended. Follow-up visits/family work by staff are usually essential to ensure that child/youth and family adjust to each other. The theoretical framework and rationale behind the use of the tools and strategies described needs to be understood, so that they are used intentionally and consistently.Research limitations/implicationsThe study cohort involved only boys and other factors are likely to affect the reintegration of girls. The study took place in Mexico only and methods used by JUCONI need to be tested in other contexts.Practical implicationsThe integration of children without parental care into families is an issue of critical interest, but there is currently very limited research or guidance on reintegration of children who have lived on the street, especially in low and middle income countries. The study should be of interest to practitioners interested in assessing whether safe and sustainable reintegration is possible and facilitating this. The paper may be of interest to practitioners working with children growing up without parental care who do not have “street connections”, but who have experienced chronic violence and loss.Originality/valueThis is the first study to describe the application of an attachment and trauma perspective to work with children who have lived on the street.
2016 Journal of Children s Services
PurposeDeveloping youth-friendly, flexible primary care is important because young people have specific health needs but often feel nervous and uneasy when seeking appropriate help. The Well Centre in South London is an innovative adolescent health one-stop-shop, jointly designed and developed by Redthread (a youth work charity) and the Herne Hill Group Practice (general practitioners). The purpose of this paper is to summarise the experiences of implementing the model and provides a description of a sample of clients.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on routine data from the Well Centre’s medical and youth work data systems, a service description and audit of patients using the centre during the three years from October 2011 to December 2014 was provided, with a particular focus on the 368 new patients aged 13-20 years attending between January and December 2014.FindingsResults demonstrated the Well Centre’s success in drawing in patients from deprived backgrounds who were less likely to be engaged with other health services, and who reflected a high level of mental health problems. The Well Centre model tested the benefit of an integrated approach in recognising and meeting the needs of young people. The real strength of the model lay in the good communications with schools and the voluntary sector in the area.Originality/valueThe Well Centre is a unique intervention with potentially wide ramifications for how primary health care is delivered to young people in inner city areas, and this paper represents the first published information about its working methods and clientele.
Hansen, William B.; Hansen, Jared L.
2016 Journal of Children s Services
doi: 10.1108/JCS-06-2015-0020pmid: 28479929
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a strategy for estimating an individual’s risk of alcohol, cigarette and cannabis use that relies on an assessment of an adolescent’s age, gender and attitude.Design/methodology/approachThe authors assembled surveys from 35,987 11-17 year-olds from 36 databases to examine the relationship between attitude and behaviour.FindingsAttitudes were strongly correlated with concurrent use of alcohol, drunkenness, smoking and cannabis, with correlations of −0.555, −0.517, −0.552 and −0.476, respectively. Logistic regression provided a means for using age, gender and attitudes to estimate an individual’s risk of engaging in substance use behaviour. Developmental changes in attitudes were estimated by analysing changes in scores associated with percentile rankings for each age and gender group. Projected year-to-year changes in attitude were used as a heuristic for estimating future risk.Research limitations/implicationsAnalyses relied on cross-sectional panel data. Analyses would benefit from longitudinal data in which age-related changes in attitudes could be more precisely modelled.Practical implicationsInformation about estimated current and future risk may prove useful for motivating the adoption and implementation of effective prevention approaches by parents and care providers.Originality/valueThe authors present a novel method for estimating an individual’s risk of substance use knowing attitude, age and gender.
Showing 1 to 6 of 6 Articles