Living in Residential Care: Experiences in a Treatment Home for Adolescents in Sweden

Abstract

This article reports on a qualitative study of adolescents living in residential care in Sweden. Six adolescents, three girls and three boys, who were the first to live in a newly opened treatment home, were interviewed about their experiences 2-3 years after they had left the home. Their experiences were in retrospect very different from each other. The results are discussed from the perspectives of individual differences, the special situation in an institution, relationships and gender. It is concluded that in spite of the fact that youth who live in a residential care institution live in the same environment, the individuals perceive it in their own unique ways.

What Does it Mean to be an Adult? Perceptions of Young Men in Residential Care

“…One may speculate that as the young men move closer to their transition to independence and adulthood, the role and importance of the caregiver reference group will become more important. There is overwhelming support within the literature that the quality and function of staff-client relationships has enduring qualities for young people in residential care (Elson 1996;Johansson and Andersson 2006;Moses 2000).…”

Handling fear among staff: violence and emotion in secure units for adolescents

“…One exception is Svedin (2011), who concludes that youth in secure units do risk exposure to violence by staff. The relationship between staff and youth has also frequently been addressed (Enell 2016;Degner et al 2015;Andersson and Johansson 2008;Johansson and Andersson 2006). Hill's (2005) dissertation proposes a division between staff members into those who take an authoritarian, pedagogical approach and those who focus on their relationship with youth.…”

Dimensions and Correlates of Client Satisfaction

“…Furthermore, clients have a wealth of information regarding the functioning of social service programs, and client satisfaction survey provides the client perspective on those aspects of the service that are important to them. This information can then be used by service providers for the improvement of practices, which may be seen by clients as not helpful (Harris & Poertner, 1999;Johansson & Andersson, 2006).…”

“…Findings of such studies may be relevant to the evaluation of shelters because of similarities in the characteristics of the residents, and because in some group homes a majority of the residents stayed for relatively short periods of time (Sinclair & Gibbs, 1999). Some studies were devoted exclusively to group homes (Johansson & Andersson, 2006;Shenum & Carlo, 1995;Sinclair & Gibbs, 1999). Other studies are of large samples of children and youth in out of home care or foster care, terms which in North America refer to group care as well as family foster care and kinship care (Chapman, Wall, & Barth, 2004;Delfabro, Barber, & Bentham, 2002;Wilson & Conroy, 1999).…”

“…Some aspects of life in group homes emerged as being of special importance to the residents and having a strong impact on their satisfaction. These were the quality of relations with staff; the behavior of the other residents; and, to a lesser extent, physical conditions, activities, and rules (Chapman et al, 2004;Johansson & Andersson, 2006;Sinclair & Gibbs, 1999).…”