Stories of working with homeless youth: On being “mind-boggling”

Working conditions, mental health and coping of staff in social work with refugees and homeless individuals: A scoping review

“…In particular, staff perceived the welfare system as unfair and limiting their possibilities to help their clients, for example due to poor financial resources. They also reported difficulties in accessing mainstream services and in dealing with other agencies (Guhan & Liebling‐Kalifani, ; Kidd, Miner, Walker, & Davidson, ; Kosny & Eakin, ; Robinson, ). Francis () explicitly noted contradictions between the bureaucratic system and client needs, which led to role conflicts faced by case managers for the homeless.…”

“…Francis () explicitly noted contradictions between the bureaucratic system and client needs, which led to role conflicts faced by case managers for the homeless. Three studies further mentioned low pay as causing financial stress to staff in the refugee and homeless sector (Hagen & Hutchison, ; Kidd et al, ; Robinson, ).…”

“…Four studies in the refugee sector and three studies in the homeless sector identified encountering clients' suffering and regularly hearing clients' stories and traumatic experiences as a major demand (Ferris et al, ; Grimm et al, ; Guhan & Liebling‐Kalifani, ; Kidd et al, ; Kosny & Eakin, ; Lusk & Terrazas, ; Robinson, ). The inability to change the situation of their clients or the little success staff experience in their work were also frequently reported (Chapleau et al, ; Kidd et al, ; Lusk & Terrazas, ; Robinson, ; Sutton‐Brock, ). Furthermore, ethical questions played a role: in one study, staff members of a refugee centre experienced distress caused by moral dilemmas in situations in which they became aware of unlawful behaviour of their clients (Guhan & Liebling‐Kalifani, ).…”

Attachment intervention through peer-based interaction: Working with Istanbul's street boys in a university setting

“…Research into the growing social phenomenon of street children has so far been limited to studying its socioeconomic and demographic causes or these children's tendency to abuse substances (Bademci, 2012;Kidd, Miner, Walker, & Davidson, 2007). Psychological research in this field has also been rightly criticized Children and Youth Services Review 49 (2015) 20-31 by social construction theorists for "pathologizing" these children's attitudes and behaviors through the use of developmental scales and psychological tests which result in the boys being labeled as "deviant" or "problematic" (Kirton, 2009).…”

Masthead

“…For some youth, there seems to be a great deal of skepticism regarding psychiatric treatment, as well as the fear of discrimination associated with the disclosure of mental health challenges to staff (McCay et al 2010). The labelling of services as mental health services also seems to be problematic to youth, primarily due to social stigma and a fear of long term labelling (Kidd et al 2007; Yonge Street Mission 2009). Youth also appear to be highly sensitive to whether staff really care about them or are just doing a job.…”