Victims, perpetrators, scapegoats and Russian dolls: Narrating violence within secure units for adolescents from a staff perspective

Abstract

A rise of violent incidents at secure units for adolescents has been reported by the Swedish National Board of Institutional Care. Meanwhile, research aiming to understand how staff manage violence seems to be lacking. By examining an in-depth narrative by one staff member, “Meral”, this study aims to understand, on the one hand, how staff describe the violence they encounter in light of the context and situation, and on the other, how they describe their handling of violence from outside the immediate environment. Drawing on Georgakopoulou and Bamberg, identities are understood to be produced and performed within personal narratives from different positions in relation to one’s surroundings. The study shows how Meral’s professional identity is shaped and affected by violence. Of essential importance is the way Meral presents herself to herself: as “not afraid.” A narrative interpretation is that fear does not fit within the framework of the professional identity for staff. A key element of placing essential responsibility on staff to manage violence is keeping lines of communication open, which could be made clearer in policy documents, training and supervision. Therefore, studies like this one could result in the development of communication strategies for staff. This is important because emotional rules can generate emotional cultures that in the long run can be destructive for both staff and young people. Only when the emotional rules are identified can staff develop strategies for dealing with the violent incidents that are part of their professional life in a qualified way.