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Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health
Published in: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 1/2019

Open Access 01-12-2019 | Research article

The bumpy road to change: a retrospective qualitative study on formerly detained adolescents’ trajectories towards better lives

Authors: Nele Van Hecke, Wouter Vanderplasschen, Lore Van Damme, Stijn Vandevelde

Published in: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health | Issue 1/2019

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Abstract

Background

Currently, the risk-oriented focus in forensic youth care is increasingly complemented by a growing interest in strengths-based approaches. Knowledge on how detention and the subsequent period in the community is experienced by adolescents, and which elements are helpful in achieving better lives can contribute to this emerging field. The current study aimed to retrospectively explore adolescents’ experiences from the moment they were detained until 6 to 12 months after they left the institution, identifying positive aspects and strengths.

Methods

In-depth interviews were conducted with 25 adolescents (both boys and girls, 15–18 years old) on average 8 months after discharge from a closed institution in Belgium. A thematic analysis was performed using NVivo 11.

Results

Five themes and corresponding subthemes were identified: (1) adolescents’ own strengths and resilience, (2) re-building personally valued lives, (3) making sense of past experiences, (4) moving away from a harmful lifestyle, and (5) (in-)formal supports. Most adolescents are on their way to finding a new balance in life, however, for a subgroup of them, this is still fragile. Adolescents highly emphasize the importance of feeling closely connected to at least one person; to receive practical help with regard to finances, work and housing; and to be able to experience pleasure and joy in their lives.

Conclusions

Adolescents’ narratives suggest that starting a journey towards a normative good life often goes along with an initial difficult period because of a sense of loss with regard to their former life. This stresses the importance of targeting rehabilitation towards prosocial goals and enhancing adolescents’ quality of life on those life domains that matter most for them. Furthermore, we stress the importance of helping adolescents in overcoming structural barriers as a first step in supporting them in their trajectories towards better lives.
Footnotes
1
We sometimes use the terms ‘detained adolescents’ and ‘detention’ throughout this manuscript, in consideration of comparability in an international context. Our study was conducted in a CI in Belgium, which is not completely the same as a youth detention center, as both adolescents who have committed offenses as well as adolescents who find themselves in an adverse living—or educational situation can be referred there by the juvenile judge. However, due to the closed nature of these institutions—both in infrastructure and in regime—and due to the mandatory character of the provided care, CI’s are in several ways comparable to youth detention centers in other countries.
 
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Metadata
Title
The bumpy road to change: a retrospective qualitative study on formerly detained adolescents’ trajectories towards better lives
Authors
Nele Van Hecke
Wouter Vanderplasschen
Lore Van Damme
Stijn Vandevelde
Publication date
01-12-2019
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health / Issue 1/2019
Electronic ISSN: 1753-2000
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-019-0271-6

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