En placering på Statens institutionsstyrelses (SiS) särskilda ungdomshem förekommer i de situationer då frivillig vård inte anses tillräcklig för ungdomen och tvångsvård ses som det enda alternativet. SiS har under många år kritiserats gällande de särskilda ungdomshemmen och fortsätter att visa på allvarliga missförhållanden och brister. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur tvångsvården på samtliga SiS särskilda ungdomshem i Sverige fungerar ur ett personalperspektiv, vilket ämnar komplettera befintlig kunskap. Det insamlade materialet grundar sig i tolv semistrukturerade intervjuer med både verksam och icke verksam personal på olika nivåer inom SiS. Genom att identifiera faktorer som personalen upplever påverkar deras möjlighet att utföra sitt arbete har tre åtgärdsförslag med utgångspunkt i tidigare forskning genererats. Dessa berör behovet av förbättrad kommunikation, kompetens och enhetlighet inom verksamheten. Studiens åtgärdsförslag ämnar därmed att bidra till en förbättring av verksamheten samt ökad kunskap om upplevelsen av att arbeta inom SiS. / A placement in the special youth homes operated by the National Board of Institutional Care (SiS) occurs in situations where voluntary care is not sufficient for the youth and compulsory care is seen as the only alternative. SiS has been subject to criticism for many years regarding the special youth homes and continues to show serious shortcomings and deficiencies. The aim of this study is to examine how the compulsory care functions in SiS special youth homes in Sweden from a staff perspective, aiming to complement existing knowledge. The collected data is based on twelve semi-structured interviews with both active and non-active personnel at different levels within SiS. By identifying factors that staff perceive as impacting their ability to execute their work, three proposed actions have been generated based on existing research. These proposals address the need for improved communication, competence, and consistency within the organization. Therefore, the study's recommendations aim to contribute towards enhancing SiS and the understanding regarding the firsthand experience of working within the organization.

This study focuses on social workers‟ perceptions regarding life story work with children in child and youth care centres in South Africa. Life story work is an established form of intervention utilized by social workers with children in care mostly in the United Kingdom. Limited research has been conducted on the subject in South Africa. The research hoped to discover how social workers perceive life story work as a therapeutic intervention technique to be utilized with children in child and youth care centres. Qualitative descriptive design was conducted inductively, through semi-structured interviews and one focus group discussion. A total of six registered social workers at registered child and youth care centres in the Northern and Southern suburbs of Cape Town in the Western Province of South Africa were purposefully selected to participate in this study. All of the interviews and the focus group were audiorecorded. Recordings were transcribed by the researcher to ascertain certain emerging themes and categories. Thematic data analysis was utilized to transform the transcribed data into meaningful information. The principles and strategies for enhancing the trustworthiness of the data were done through crystallisation. The findings of the study revealed that social workers initially perceive life story work as time-consuming and are unaware of what the concept truly entails, but once examples were shown to the social workers, they recognised that they were using some of the activities already and perceived life story work as valuable, effective and essential in child and youth care centres. Life story work was perceived as useful for identity formation, a sense of belonging, relationship-building and family reunification services, for example. It was discovered that the social workers were utilising aspects of life story work, but that there is a shortage of social workers to act as facilitators to possibly complete life story work processes with each child in child and youth care centres. The recommendation was, therefore, made that childcare workers be trained in life story work in order for it to be implemented in child and youth care centres effectively. Further research studies were, therefore, recommended to ascertain how life story work could be practically implemented as a holistic programme with the children in child and youth care centres. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

In an age of unbridled global capitalism and caustic neocolonial relations to land and life, the question of the aims and approaches of doing counselling with young people, particularly those majoritarian youth who are inheriting the privileges and specters of capitalist and colonial conquest, is pertinent. This dissertation is a collection of three theoretical papers on critical counselling with majoritarian young people in the context of contemporary Empire. A critical lens drawn from decolonial analyses was applied to mainstream counselling practice and theory. By developing a map of how contemporary Empire functions as a permutation of settler colonialism and globalized capitalism, this work investigates the forms of power and discourse that structure contemporary counselling, particularly the bio-medical-industrial-complex of psychiatry and the pharmacology industry, societies of control and digital technology, affective labour, and coloniality. Practices of vulnerability, self-reflexivity, decolonization, accountability, and critique are weaved into a cartographic methodology to redefine counselling as an ethics-driven and politicized intervention in the reproduction of majoritarian subjectivity. In the 21st century, globalized capitalism and settler colonialism seek to push past material limits and appropriate the products of human relatedness—feelings, ideas, cultures, and creations. In resisting this affective extractivism, these papers explore what it might mean to position engagement, living encounter, and relationship in an ethics-based counselling paradigm of resistance and social justice. The challenge of a critical counselling praxis commensurate with such a paradigm is to find avenues to intervene in the majoritarian psyche’s capito-colonial grip on all forms of land and life. Counselling in an Age of Empire proposes that a politicized account of counselling with majoritarian subjects might prove to be a productive space for recrafting subjectivities. Through a careful critique of the majoritarian subject, in the roles of both counsellor and client, a praxis of counselling attentive to political context, based in living encounter, and grounded in a settler ethics of vulnerability and accountability is sketched out. Overall, the work is aimed at majoritarian students and counsellors, their teachers, and those interested in developing a counselling praxis grounded in settler ethics, critique, vulnerability, and the power of living encounter. / Graduate / 2019-09-30

In recent decades, the practice of mindfulness has spread from its initial Eastern philosophical and spiritual roots and has been adapted in various Western contexts of service provision in attempts to improve the physical and psychological well-being of individuals with a diverse range of conditions. Secularized versions of mindfulness are currently being utilized in elementary schools. Given the rising presence of mindfulness practices in elementary schools, it is important to learn about educators’ experiences, perceptions, and beliefs regarding these practices. This study investigates how mindfulness practice is being conceptualized and taught in public elementary school settings with children. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 6 educators in 3 public elementary schools within the same catchment area. A thematic data analysis approach was utilized to derive central themes from the interviews. The findings contribute to qualitative understandings surrounding the benefits and limitations of current practices. As well, approaches and strategies are proposed that could inform a more comprehensive practice of mindfulness and more consistent implementation in these settings. / Graduate

Psykisk ohälsa är ett omfattande folkhälsoproblem, särskilt bland barn och ungdomar. Det kan därför vara av betydelse att fritisgårdspersonal som dagligen arbetar med barn och ungdomar också kan ge stöd och vägledning till barn och ungdomar som mår dåligt psykiskt. Att fritidsgårdspersonal får fortbildning om psykisk ohälsa kan även vara en främjande faktor för fritidsgårdspersonalen att motverka ohälsosamma stressorer inför svåra situationer. Fortbildningen kan således stärka personalens förmåga att hantera utmanande situationer gällande psykiska besvär bland barn och ungdomar.  Föreliggande studie genomfördes för fritidsgårdsverksamheternas enhet i Västerås stad. Syftet med studien var att undersöka fritidsgårdspersonalens upplevda behov av fortbildning gällande psykisk ohälsa bland ungdomar.  En kvalitativ ansats valdes för studien och datainsamlingen genomfördes utifrån semistrukturerade intervjuer. Urvalet av informanter var målinriktat och fem personer intervjuades. Därefter transkriberades och analyserades intervjuerna utifrån en manifest innehållsanalys. Resultaten visar att fritidsgårdspersonalen upplever svårigheter kring hantering av psykisk ohälsa bland barn och ungdomar på grund av att de är i behov av verktyg som hjälper dem att hantera svåra situationer i allmänhet.  Men de upplevde dessutom ett behov av fortbildning kring psykisk ohälsa i synnerhet. Personalen upplever också att de har bristande kunskap kring olika tillstånd och diagnoser som psykisk ohälsa omfattar. Resultatet påvisar även att fritidsgårdspersonalen uttryckte en känsla av meningsfullhet för sitt arbete. Slutsatsen från studien tyder på att det finns ett behov av fortbildning gällande psykisk ohälsa för fritidsgårdspersonalen. / Mental health is an increasing public health problem, especially among children and adolescents. It is therefore essential for the youth care staff who work with children and adolecents on a daily basis to know how to effectively handle young individuals who are suffering from mental health problems. The fact that the youth care staff receive further training on mental illness can be a stimulating factor for them to counter difficult situations appropriately. The continuing education can also strengthen the staff's ability to handle challenging situations regarding mental health problems among children and adolescents. A study was conducted for several youth care centres in Vasteras city, Sweden. The purpose of the study was to investigate the youth care staffs perceived need for competence training regarding mental illness among adolecents. A qualitative approach was chosen, and the data collection was thus carried out based on semi-structured interviews. Purposeful sampling was used and five youth care staff were interviewed. After which, their answers were transcribed and analysed based on a manifest content analysis.   The results show, that youth care staff experience difficulties in managing mental illness among children, and adolescents because they are in need of tools that help them handle difficult situations in general. But they also experienced a need for further education on mental illness in particular. This is largely due to a lack of knowledge about the various conditions and diagnoses that mental illness involves. The results also show that the staff expressed a sense of meaningfulness for their work. The conclusion from the study suggests that there is a need for continuing education regarding mental health for youth care staff.

<p>This study provides educators with an opportunity to share their commitments and biases, their beliefs about what these learners need and what, as educators, they have to offer them. The study focuses specifically on what curriculum educators believe should be offered to the youth in these centres. It is important to note that the focus of the thesis is on the educational debates and challenges within SYCECs, and not on the overall goals and role to be played by these institutions in rehabilitating youth. This piece of work acknowledges the systemic issues that impact on learning and development of youth, but foregrounds what learners in SYCECs should be taught and why. This is its main contribution.</p>

<p>This study provides educators with an opportunity to share their commitments and biases, their beliefs about what these learners need and what, as educators, they have to offer them. The study focuses specifically on what curriculum educators believe should be offered to the youth in these centres. It is important to note that the focus of the thesis is on the educational debates and challenges within SYCECs, and not on the overall goals and role to be played by these institutions in rehabilitating youth. This piece of work acknowledges the systemic issues that impact on learning and development of youth, but foregrounds what learners in SYCECs should be taught and why. This is its main contribution.</p>

This study focuses on social workers‟ perceptions regarding life story work with children in child and youth care centres in South Africa. Life story work is an established form of intervention utilized by social workers with children in care mostly in the United Kingdom. Limited research has been conducted on the subject in South Africa. The research hoped to discover how social workers perceive life story work as a therapeutic intervention technique to be utilized with children in child and youth care centres. Qualitative descriptive design was conducted inductively, through semi-structured interviews and one focus group discussion. A total of six registered social workers at registered child and youth care centres in the Northern and Southern suburbs of Cape Town in the Western Province of South Africa were purposefully selected to participate in this study. All of the interviews and the focus group were audiorecorded. Recordings were transcribed by the researcher to ascertain certain emerging themes and categories. Thematic data analysis was utilized to transform the transcribed data into meaningful information. The principles and strategies for enhancing the trustworthiness of the data were done through crystallisation. The findings of the study revealed that social workers initially perceive life story work as time-consuming and are unaware of what the concept truly entails, but once examples were shown to the social workers, they recognised that they were using some of the activities already and perceived life story work as valuable, effective and essential in child and youth care centres. Life story work was perceived as useful for identity formation, a sense of belonging, relationship-building and family reunification services, for example. It was discovered that the social workers were utilising aspects of life story work, but that there is a shortage of social workers to act as facilitators to possibly complete life story work processes with each child in child and youth care centres. The recommendation was, therefore, made that childcare workers be trained in life story work in order for it to be implemented in child and youth care centres effectively. Further research studies were, therefore, recommended to ascertain how life story work could be practically implemented as a holistic programme with the children in child and youth care centres. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Magister Educationis - MEd / This study provides educators with an opportunity to share their commitments and biases, their beliefs about what these learners need and what, as educators, they have to offer them. The study focuses specifically on what curriculum educators believe should be offered to the youth in these centres. It is important to note that the focus of the thesis is on the educational debates and challenges within SYCECs, and not on the overall goals and role to be played by these institutions in rehabilitating youth. This piece of work acknowledges the systemic issues that impact on learning and development of youth, but foregrounds what learners in SYCECs should be taught and why. This is its main contribution. / South Africa

With Youth work being one of the key interventions used to advance the development of young people, through this study, the researcher takes a closer look at how Youth work can be enhanced to ensure its maximised contribution to empowerment and development of young people. On that basis, the researcher investigates the perceptions, attitudes, and opinions of social service professionals towards emergence and future status of Youth work practice in South Africa. This is essential, given that policy directions ought to be guided by rational, fact-based information. The researcher used two-phased sequential mixed methods research approach, which combines qualitative and quantitative methods in sequence, to explore the research phenomenon. Qualitative data was gathered from four (4) focus groups, conducted in each of the selected South Africa’s provinces. Quantitative data was gathered from five hundred and ninety-three (593) respondents who completed a measuring instrument. Some of the key empirical findings suggested that the social development factors compared to human resources and diversion factors are key drivers behind emergence of Youth work. Therefore, there is a need to ensure that interventions primarily and consequently enhance the social functioning of young people. On the current status of Youth work, a significant majority of respondents indicated that Youth work is the responsibility of a multi-disciplinary team. The evidence also pointed to Youth workers being more skilled than Social workers and Child youth care workers in rendering services to the youth. Additionally, the findings showed that the involvement of social service professionals in Youth work was mainly in collaborating with other professionals when rendering Youth work services, and also in direct service delivery. Their involvement in policy development was to no extent. This was associated with a limited number of Youth workers in the public sector. The findings on perceptions of social service professionals regarding the future status of Youth work showed that 75% of the respondents believe that Youth work should become an area of specialisation for Social work and/or Child and youth care work; followed by 17% who are of the opinion that it should remain as an occupation; whilst only 8% said it should be an autonomous profession. Additionally, an overwhelming majority of the respondents agreed with all statements which were listed as advantages or benefits of having Youth work recognised as an area of specialisation or a profession. On the basis of these findings, the researcher recommended that young people’s problems and aspirations should be addressed within their social contexts; there is a need to ensure that interventions primarily enhance the social functioning of young people; there is a need to have Youth work as an area of specialisation for Social work and/or Child and youth care work; and there is a need to create additional capacity to provide services to the youth, especially in government as a policy making structure. It is essential to note that the support for specialisation supports South Africa’s approach to mainstreaming youth development across various sectors. It could also be seen as a clear indication of the positive role and value placed on Youth work, and the potential contribution it might have should it become an area of specialisation for Social work and/or Child and youth care work. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted