Annual of social work, Vol. 27 No. 3, 2020.
Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.3935/ljsr.v27i3.284
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CARE GIVERS AND BENEFICIARIES AND PROFESSIONAL INTERVENTIONS IN THE PREVENTION OF RUNAWAYS FROM RESIDENTIAL CARE
Gabrijela Ratkajec Gašević
; Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Sanja Lampert
; Center for Education of Children and Youth Rijeka
Ivana Maurović
; Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Youth runaways are often mentioned as a burning problem in residential care. Apart from phenomenological aspects and factors that contribute to this phenomenon, and which have previously been analyzed in scientific research studies, this paper is focused on the relationship of young people who have already had an experience of runaway from residential care with professionals, primarily educators. Existing research studies indicate the significance of the relationship between the users and professionals, at which poor relationship is associated with the reasons for youth runaways, and a good relationship with protective factors that prevent the youth from running away and which protect them generally is perceived as a factor that contributes to the success of the treatment. The aim of this paper is to present how young persons experience the relationship with professionals, and which actions of professionals they identify as potentially useful and efficient in the prevention of runaways from residential care. The focus is on the significance and possibilities of professional helping relationship between professionals and young persons with the aim of preventing the occurrence of youth runaways from residential care. The perspective of 15 young persons with the experience of runaway from residential care is presented. The technique of a semi-structured interview was applied for the data collection, and a thematic analysis was conducted for data processing. As a result of the thematic analysis in which three topics were determined as a framework, 12 categories and 57 codes were recognized. The results of this research indicate that the relationships between the users and educators are complex and multi-layered. Young people primarily experience the relationships positively, and the relationships depend on the actions of the educators as well as on their own actions. The actions of the educators that the youth experienced after returning to residential care after runaway can be divided into those happening immediately after the runaway and those with a time lapse. The dominant intervention following runaways is a conversation about the runaway which contains the elements of obtaining the data about the course of the runaway, gaining an insight into the reasons for the runaway, raising awareness about the consequences and giving advice. Apart from conversations, young people mention the consequences which include grounding, lifting privileges and isolation. The results illuminate how the relationship between young people and professionals can become an important prerequisite in the prevention of youth runaways from residential care.
Keywords
youth runaways; residential care institutions; actions of professionals in case of youth runaways; recommendations of young people
Hrčak ID:
256486
URI
Publication date:
18.4.2021.
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