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The present research takes an in-depth look at the lives of young people with traumatic personal experiences and describes the efforts to help them in intensive individual educational programmes at home and abroad - How can intensive 1:1 social education support young people to lead an autonomous and self-determined life that is acceptable to both them and society at large? - What do the various stakeholders say about the collaboration process of creating support plans and which effects do the plans have on the young people and their families? - Which conclusions can be drawn from those answers to improve the quality of work in the intensive social education sector? These questions are at the core of this longitudinal study which looks at the cases of 7 young people and presents its results as questions for further research. This English translation is part of a more comprehensive German study.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015
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Table of Contents
Foreword for the English Translation
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction - Research Design
1.1. Child, youth and family support in Germany
1.2. Background and current research
1.2.1. Summary of the research so far
1.3. The decision to undertake qualitative research
1.4. Subject of the research and original hypothesis
1.5. Survey Method and context
1.5.1. Analysis of Files
1.5.2. Guided Interviews
1.5.3. Group Discussions (German Version)
1.5.4. Sampling
1.5.5. Analysis of the findings
2. Case Study André
2.1. Current situation
2.2. Case history
2.3. History
2.4. Initiating Contact / Initial Approach for Help
2.5. Key Themes and goals of the support
2.5.1. Problematic social behaviour
2.5.2. Emotional maturity
2.5.3. Family relationships
2.5.4. Life skills
2.6. Resources of the young person and the family
2.6.1. André’s resources
2.6.2. Family resources
2.7. Setting design
2.8. Participation of the young person and his parents
2.8.1. Participation of André
2.8.2. Participation of parents
2.9. The Quality of the relationship between the young person and the support services
2.9.1. André – Care Workers M. Werner and Ulrike O
2.10. Process design between young person and the support services
2.10.1. Social behaviour
2.10.2. Emotional maturity
2.10.3. Family relationships
2.10.4. Life skills
2.11. Stakeholder collaboration
2.12. Conclusion of the programme and ongoing support
2.13. The impact of the support and its effects as seen by the interviewees
2.13.1. Social behaviour
2.13.2. Emotional Maturity
2.13.3. Family relationships
2.13.4. Life skills
2.14. André’s ideas for his future
2.15. Summary
3. Case Study Christian
3.1. Current situation
3.2. Case history
3.3. History
3.4. Initiating Contact / Initial Approach for Help
3.5. Key themes and goals of the support
3.5.1. Problematic social behaviour
3.5.2. Emotional maturity
3.5.3. Family relationships
3.5.4. Life skills
3.6. Resources of the young person and their family
3.6.1. Christian’s resources
3.6.2. Family resources
3.7. Setting design
3.7.1. Care work in the supported living group (SLG) and the emergency accommodation
3.7.2. Transfer to Italy
3.7.3. 1:1 care in Italy
3.7.4. Post programme ambulant support in Germany
3.8. The participation of the young person and his parents
3.8.1. Christian’s participation
3.8.2. Participation of the parents
3.9. The quality of the relationship between the young person and the support services
3.9.1. Christian - ambulant care worker in Germany
3.9.2. Christian - care worker in Italy
3.9.3. Christian - other professionals
3.9.4. Relationships with others
3.10. Process design between the young person and the support services
3.10.1. Social behaviour
3.10.2. Emotional maturity
3.10.3. Life skills
3.11. Stakeholder collaboration
3.12. Conclusion of the programme and ongoing support
3.13. The impact of the support and its effects as seen by the interviewees
3.13.1. Social behaviour
3.13.2. Emotional maturity
3.13.3. Family relationships
3.13.4. Life skills
3.14. Christian’s ideas for his future
3.15. Summary
4. Case Study Lena
4.1. Current situation
4.2. Case history
4.3. History
4.4. Initiating Contact / Initiation of support
4.5. Key themes and goals of the support
4.5.1. Problematic social behaviour
4.5.2. Family relationships
4.5.3. Emotional maturity
4.5.4. Life skills
4.6. Resources of the young person and her family
4.6.1. Lena’s resources
4.6.2. Family resources
4.7. Setting design
4.7.1. First location
4.7.2. Transition to Germany
4.7.3. Ambulant after care in Germany
4.8. Participation of the young person and her parents
4.8.1. Lena's participation
4.8.2. Participation of the parents
4.9. Quality of the relationship between the young person and the support services
4.9.1. Lena - care worker(s)
4.9.2. Lena - coordinator
4.10. Process design between young person and the support services
4.10.1. Social behaviour
4.10.2. Emotional maturity
4.10.3. Family relationships
4.10.4. Life skills
4.11. Stakeholder collaboration
4.12. Conclusion of the programme and ongoing support
4.13. The impact of the support and its effects as seen by the interviewees
4.13.1. Social behaviour
4.13.2. Emotional maturity
4.13.3. Family relationships
4.13.4. Life skills
4.14. Lena’s ideas for her future
4.15. Summary
5. Conclusion
5.1. The caring relationship as foundation and opportunity
5.2. Working with biographies
5.3. Support plans versus themes
5.4. Participation
5.4.1. Participation of the young people
5.4.2. Participation by the parents
5.5. Resources and potential
5.5.1. The young person’s resources
5.5.2. Family resources
5.6. Setting (location and concept of the programme)
5.7. Cooperation amongst stakeholders
5.7.1. Youth Welfare Office
5.7.2. Service provider – care worker
5.7.3. The care worker and other support services / institutions
6. A view – aspects of attachment theory in individual social educational (pedagogic) work and research
List of references
Appendix 1
Guidelines for Interviews
Interview Guideline Adolescents
Interview Guideline Parents
Interview Guideline Care Worker
Interview Guideline Coordination
Interview Guideline Youth Welfare Office
The Authors
Foreword for the English Translation
“In Relation to Relationships. - Intensive pedagogic support under the magnifying glass”
The research “Beziehungsweise Bindung – Intensivpädagogische Hilfeverläufe unter der Lupe” has been completed as the result of a number of factors.
The first is that the authors work in a number of languages and cultural contexts in Youth Support.
At the same time the interest in intensive pedagogic support is growing in Europe.
Finally, the authors wish to share their work and be involved in the international academic discourse and consultation as well as the exchange of knowledge about intensive pedagogic care for children and adolescents.
The original impetus to undertake this translation is to enable us to provide the German perspective to the conference in June 2015 in Halifax (Canada) “Pathways to resilience III: Beyond nature versus nurture” The thought of being able to participate in this conference is closely related to the conclusions we came to as a result of our evaluation.
The research was developed and informed through interviews with clients (young people), their parents and the care professionals as they expressed their experiences from their own point of views. The aim of the research was to identify what characteristics of the interventions made them successful?
In Germany, this study is at the moment the first qualitative longterm study of its kind. At the time the interviews took place, the programme run by “Jugendhilfe Phöinix e. V.” had finished at least three years previously.
In order to make it possible to complete this translation, the number of case studies used in the original (German version) research was reduced from seven to three; the selected three studies provide good examples that, between them, demonstrate the outcomes of the research.
We hope that our English speaking readers find this research interesting and thought provoking.
Acknowledgements
In order to be able to carry out this research we have been helped by many colleagues
Our first and very special thanks go to the young people, their parents and the Social Workers who were prepared to be interviewed. Without their help, their openness and their trust as well as their flexibility we would not have been able to carry out this project.
Thanks also to the staff of “Jugendhilfe Phöinix e. V.” who provided specialist advice and valuable constructive criticism.
We thank Gyles Palmer and Burkhard Ehring for the translation who apologise in advance for any confusion arising out of the translation, especially of quotations. It is suggested that readers refer to the original documents where needed.
1. Introduction - Research Design
1.1.Child, youth and family support in Germany
This research takes place within the legal parameters of German Social legislation which we will briefly explain. This will place the work and the research in context.
The rights and responsibilities of parents for the care and education of their children are laid out in law by the Federal Republic of Germany Constitutional Order (Section 6, Paragraph 2, second sentence). The state is required to ensure that these rights and responsibilities are carried out. In all of its actions, the state must place the welfare of the child over all else.
If the parents are unable to care alone for their children, they have a legal right to support from the state to help them.
It is assumed that the state will play a supportive role and will only use force, for example the removal of the child, if the parents are putting the child’s welfare at risk.
The Child and Youth Welfare Act is part of the Social Act (Sozialgesetzbuches VIII) and defines the criteria for eligibility for the provision of help. In order to achieve this, a range of children and youth welfare services have been developed. These include support for organisations such as children’s day care services, schools or recreational centres as well as more targeted support for vulnerable young people and their families who are at risk.
Services have become increasingly differentiated and specialised in order to meet this wide range of complex needs.
In principle the support is provided through independent organisations who are contracted to provide services by the Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) of the local authority. The state only provides services directly when there is no organisation who is able to provide the specific service required. The partnership between the service provider, the state and the service user is based on close participation of all parties, regardless of age, in the development of the support plan.
If a child or youth can neither be supported in the family nor in an institution, the legislation provides for “Intensive 1:1 social education” (Intensive sozialpädagogische Einzelbetreuung) (§ 35 SGB VIII). The law requires that, if the child or youth is at high risk and there is no appropriate alternative service, then an individual programme should be developed and carried out.
The tailor made service would specify who provides the social education, where it should be provided and the content of the programme.
Our research focussed on these programmes in social education developed for these very individual cases.
1.2.Background and current research
This research, published in Germany in 2014, is the result of experience gathered by staff of Jugendhilfe Phöinix e. V in their work in this area over the last 18 years. During this time over 700 Intensive 1:1 social education programmes were delivered with children and young people in line with this part of the Child and Youth Welfare Act (§ 35 SGB VIII).
Young people who are cared for through this form of intensive support have usually had traumatic experiences. Their biographies record multiple breakdowns and changes and sometimes long careers as the clients of Psychiatric and Youth Services.
Some of the authors of this research now work for “imBlick Kinderund Jugendhilfe gGmbH” which is a successor to “Jugendhilfe Phöinix e. V.” As a result of what was learnt through this research, they plan to carry out a further study which examines in more detail aspects of “Matching of the Care Worker and the Young Person”.
The aim of the Intensive 1:1 social education process is to enable the young person to live in an independent and socially acceptable way through the provision of a setting aligned with their needs. The young person should be given the opportunity to experience alternative ways of behaving and thinking and integrating them into their own range of responses.
In the context of the highly differentiated support programmes delivered by “Jugendhilfe Phöinix e. V” the responsible professionals began to ask themselves whether reliance on experience and the belief in current theories was a sufficiently empirical foundation for the design of the programmes.
“Jugendhilfe Phöinix e. V” had established a range of guiding work practices, hypotheses and success factors for intensive social education support (see Chapter 1.3).
In 2008 during a workshop it was suggested that these hypotheses should be tested to see if they were supported through empirical evidence and research.
At that time in Germany, qualitative and quantitative social research began to explore the degree to which intensive social education really worked. Currently, there are a few quantitative as well as qualitative studies available. These include self-evaluations by service providers and more overarching research of the field as a whole, as part of a dissertation. The following explanations are meant to provide an overview of the research design of those studies.
1.2.1. Summary of the research so far
In 2003, Klaus Fröhlich-Gildhoff published a dissertation which explored the concepts, processes and effectiveness of intensive youth work (Einzelbetreuung)1. Gildhoff's aim was a “comprehensive picture of the practice of intensive social education in its various forms”2, in order to identify the elements of the work which led to successful outcomes.3 He closely examined the relationship between the carer and the child or youth as well as the external conditions.
In 2007, the “Institut des Rauhen Hauses für Soziale Praxis gGmbH” (a partnership between several intensive social education service providers) carried out research into the development of the ability to cope with or master everyday life at school, work, at home and legal behaviour through long term intensive social education in Germany and abroad.
355 participants answered 60 standardised and open questions which were then analysed4.
Two years later, Torsten Fischer and Jörg Ziegenspeck concentrated on intensive social education outside Germany in qualitative research which aimed to understand the impact of this form of informal learning and experience and whether and what personal characteristics can be taught 5
At the same time, a dissertation by Matthias Witte described the biographical and social environment of young people in intensive social education programmes outside Germany. He focused on the young people’s view of their reality. He did this through the analysis of 12 comprehensive case studies, biographical stories, observation and photo interviews6.
One year later, Willy Klawe developed a multi perspective reconstruction of the social education process and interventions by involving the workers various stakeholders on the completion of their intervention. Klawe produced 12 case monographs which allowed Klawe to generate, key processes and elements that contribute to the ability to deal successfully with day to day life.
In 2011, the so-called InHAus Studie (individual social education abroad) carried out research using experimental and control groups. Comparisons were made between the effects of intensive social education abroad and supported living in Germany7.
1.3.The decision to undertake qualitative research
In the final analysis, the senior staff of intensive social education and care at provider “Jugendhilfe Phöinix e. V.” decided to undertake evaluation research that was carried out by staff with the help of external consultants between 2010 and 2013.
The hope was to develop a deeper understanding through the eyes of the participants in the process and their decision making during a programme to identify possible key factors impacting on success or failure and to use them to inform one’s own work.
The object of the research can be best described as Individual Education. Each intervention is unique to the individual person in content, method, staffing and area. No two programmes are alike. Since the programmes could not be standardised, it was not possible to gather quantitative data and therefore the team chose qualitative research.
“The ambition of qualitative research is to describe the world in terms of the subjective experience of the participants. This will achieve a better understanding of the social reality(ies) of the participants and help us identify actions and consequences, patterns of meaning and structural characteristics”8.
“By mostly using narrative, the qualitative research method allows a more open way of gathering data about the exploration of the research subject which in turn contributes to achieving a more multidimensional, graphic and concrete picture of the situation from the perspective of the people concerned9”
In order to deal with the subject adequately, the research team decided that they would reconstruct and analyse a few specific cases, in particular the participants' perceptions of reality and interpretive frames (theory of the world).
First, the cases would be examined in detail and individually and in the second step, they would be compared to identify similarities. The research changed in character from simply being an attempt to test hypotheses about existing practices and performance indicators to a more open study. Now the focus was on using an inductive process of examination to discover something new or interesting or, after a systematic comparison of the cases relevant data, some commonalities.
The resulting research therefore takes into account the constructivist understanding of reality which defines a qualitative approach to evaluation in the sense that social reality is understood as:
“[…] the result of agreed structures of interactive communication which results in patterns of meaning and behaviour, dialogue and social representation. The reflective and causal nature of their reality would be captured through the qualitative research of the perspective of the participants and their roles and positions. The scientific interpretation itself becomes part of the reconstructive discovery and formation process of the social reality which is the subject of the change of the topic that is being evaluated.”10
As a result “Jugendhilfe Phöinix e. V.” undertook a wide ranging longitudinal research project over a period of four years. This process allowed participation by the staff of Phöinix through feedback into the research process11
Regular team meetings provided the opportunity for staff to critique the questions, assumptions and evaluation criteria of the research so far and to develop their own professional skills.
As a result inferences could be made about the appropriateness of the particular professional practices in a specific intensive social education interventions. As a result of the open research design and as the programme progressed, these new inferences could be applied in practice.
1.4.Subject of the research and original hypothesis
Through an open and explorative process the research seeks to find insights into the following question:
How does “Jugendhilfe Phöinix e. V”, support young people with traumatic and multiple experiences of failed youth welfare interventions live a life which is both acceptable to them and to the society they live in?
The working hypothesis was as follows:
Intensive social education programmes can provide the greatest possible support to young people with traumatic experiences and multiple experience of failed youth welfare interventions to live a life which is both acceptable to them and to the society they live in when they programmes cater for them as individuals. These individually relevant settings offer them new experiences and alternative concepts and ways of behaving and the newly learned behaviours can then be integrated into the young peoples’ lives.
The question then arises as to what are the characteristics which could be considered to be most important in a successful programme? The research team agreed on the following criteria:
That the young person is assessed as requiring and is provided with an appropriately individualised Setting (care staff, communication, opportunities, environment, contact with the community...) and a relationship between the Care Worker and the young person that will be supportive in enabling them to master the issues they face and promote their selfdevelopment.
The Young Person's resources
The Family's resources
Less negative biographical experiences
If the young person has had some of the following experiences, we speak of a very negative biography:
Neglect (lack of emotional and physical care)
Experience of abuse (personal or witnessed, psychological or physical, attempted suicide)
Chronic drug misuse by parents with the result that the child is unable to predict parent behaviour.
Parents with mental health issues
Personal experience of drug misuse
- Long and varied career in the youth welfare and psychiatric health system
When, as a child, the young person has experienced a home / place which was dependable, trusted and providing privacy then we would assess the biographical experience as being less negative.
Low referral age
The earlier a child starts with an intensive social education programme (intensiv-sozialpädagogische Einzelbetreuung ISE), the better is the prognosis for success because specific patterns have not had time to harden. On the other hand, the more resources and emotional resilience a young person has, the more likely it is that they can start later in life.
Support Plans and implementation
(preparation, transition, termination and post programme support)
Participation of the Young Person and their Parents/Carers
These criteria led to an initial focus on the following case specific elements:
Biographical experience / history
The situation of the Young Person and their parents/carers at the beginning of the programme, initial situation, problems, themes, resources
Support plan and implementation (preparation, transition, termination, post project support) decision making and participation processes.
The Setting (Match between the Young person and the offer made by the Care Worker)
The development of relationships and interventions
Family work
Cooperation between the Care worker, the professional advisors of the organisation, Youth Office and other stakeholders
Impact, transfer, situation today
1.5.Survey Method and context
We agreed that the basis of the research would be through case studies as these would most suitable for research subjects with high levels of individuality and would allow a more explorative approach.
“(Case studies) aim to reconstruct or describe a specific case exactly. People, communities (e.g. families), organisations or institutions (e.g. nursing homes) can be the subject of analysis through case studies. The crucial problem is to identify the cases which provide the strongest examples, the resolution, the context and which methodological approaches are required to reconstruct them”12
We used a variety of methods to secure the findings In order to ensure that they were valid.
1.5.1. Analysis of Files
The files enabled us to establish (as far as possible) the history and context and a timeline for the programme. We used case notes, minutes of support plan meetings, reports, assessments, notes, memos and letters.
The information results were recorded in specially developed forms (Appendix 2 and 3, see German version).
The close study of the files also prepared us for the following interviews and helped the interviewer to approach the themes and experiences of the interviewee with a sensitivity appropriate to their experience.
Finally, the analysis of the files allowed conclusions to be drawn about the way the files were managed by the service provider and highlighted areas where improvements could be made.
1.5.2. Guided Interviews
For practical reasons a, mostly, open ended, standardised interview questions were used. This was out of scholarly interest and because it reduced the amount of time required to analyse the data given the limited resources of the research team.
The interview consisted of a sequence of, in the most cases, fixed questions which related to the assumed success factors but were kept intentionally open.
The way in which the questions were formulated could be dependent on the specific case and the themes varied. The questions were formulated in a way to encourage narrative so that narrative and active listening (by the interviewer) predominated. The aim of this method was to enable the interviewee to speak freely and develop their own stories within the boundaries set by the questions.
At the end of the interview both parties were given the opportunity to supplement what they had said or talk about other things. (“Are there any other questions that I haven’t asked you but that you would have liked to answer?”).
The interview was guided and modified for each type of interviewee (young person, parent, carer, specialist advisers, youth service case managers) (Appendix 1).
A pre-test was carried out with each interview and this informed the way in which each interview was carried out.
Carrying out the Interviews
Our aspiration was to interview all of those involved with supporting the young people who are the subject of these case studies. It was possible to interview the young people, the Carers and the Specialist adviser in all of the seven of the cases in the original German publication. We also sought to interview Case managers and parents but this was not always possible because, either the person was not available or not willing to be involved.
The interviews took place between June 2010 and September 2011. A last interview was carried out in December 2012. The interviews were carried out almost entirely face to face using a dictaphone and very occasionally over the telephone.
The seven Case Studies generated 32 interviews;
Young People
7
Parents
4
Carers
9
Coordinators/specialist advisers
9
Youth Service Case Managers
3
In the English version three of the original seven case studies are included.
Record of interviews
In the original German version only those verbal behaviours were recorded that would be analysed.
All interviews were transcribed exactly as spoken. In order to make it easier to understand in this translation most extraneous words were removed.
We have tried to ensure that the text is legible and approximates the conversation held. Every interview was proof heard and read by a second person in order to avoid mistakes in transcription.
Finally, the names of all participants and locations were anonymised.
1.5.3. Group Discussions (German Version)
Three of the seven case studies were evaluated by a group of staff from “Jugendhilfe Phöinix e. V.” who were invited to contribute to the brain storming session as part of a group discussion.
The participants were able to freely express their thoughts and associations with regard to the interviews. Over and above this questions and comments were shared. The discussion was recorded and transcripts made. The findings were taken into account in the steps in the evaluation.
1.5.4. Sampling
The samples were taken from six typical intensive social education programmes with the following criteria:
Type of support (ambulant or residential)
Age at start of programme (high: older than 15, low: under 15 years old)
Care/Programme delivered inside or outside Germany
In the following combinations;
Ambulant support and high age of entry to the programme
Ambulant support and low age of entry to the programme
Residential Programme in or outside Germany and high age entry to the programme
Residential Programme in or outside Germany and low age entry to the programme
Mixture of ambulant care in Germany and residential care in and outside Germany with high age entry
Mixture of ambulant care in Germany and residential care in and outside Germany with low age entry
The completion of the programme must have been at least three years before the beginning of the research to enable us to identify any long term outcomes.
A random sample was taken from each of six groups based on the above criteria, each group had between three and eight cases.
However we found that in some of the sampled cases it was not possible to establish the contact details for all of the participants in the programme delivery. This then became a further criteria for sample selection.
The last criteria was that the young person, their care worker and the professional adviser would be prepared to participate.
Initial contacts took place by telephone and the interviewer explained the aim of the research and the participant confirmed that they would participate.
Ultimately the following case studies were chosen and these broadly cover the spectrum of programmes offered by “Jugendhilfe Phöinix e. V.”
We chose two young people for category (a) because they showed different characteristics: André began the programme at the age of 16 and lived on the street and in a hotel during the programme and Lara lived in her own flat while she was in a programme. The two settings are so different that it was decided to include both of them.
For this translation we have selected the cases of André, Christian und Lena (bold print in table above). This was to achieve a representative range of cases with regard to residential and ambulant care in and outside Germany.
André models the possibilities and limits of a completely ambulant intensive social educational programme. The cases of Lena and Christian give an impression of a programme which is made up of a continuum of ambulant and residential interventions both inside and outside Germany. The criteria for the age of entry to a programme was not prioritised and all of the selected young people were at least 15 at the beginning of the programme.
1.5.5. Analysis of the findings
The way in which we analysed the findings were appropriate to “the open nature of the theoretical hypotheses which initiated the research as well as its “explicit intentions” 13 (Chapter 1.3) and is based on practical research requirements.
We agree with Schmidt that the analysis of guided interviews should “seek unique and pertinent paths”14
The chosen analysis techniques are briefly described below:
a) Brainstorming phase
The four person research team read all of the Case interviews. During a brainstorming session the first associations and striking and important features were shared and discussed. This resulted in a number of themes and questions. The minutes of this discussion formed the preparation for later classification. Supplementary groups of colleagues looked in detail at individual cases and the outcomes of these discussions also informed the categorisation.
b) The development of evaluations categories
To begin with, a single interview text was used by the research team to establish categories inductively. Each member of the team did this individually and then shared their conclusions and decided which were most significant and how they should be formulated. These categories were then applied to the next two cases in teams of two people who, after looking at them individually again compared their results with each other. The categories identified were then evaluated and professionally reviewed by the whole team, they were systemised and coding guidelines developed.
These were made up of main and sub categories and were used to analyse the remaining interviews. The final draft of the evaluation grid is contained in Appendix 3.
c) Coding the interviews
Using this grid the interviews were recorded sentence by sentence or even word for word in that the statements were classified according to the categories. The summary of each evaluation contained individual interpretations as well as summary of the content, questions and comments about the coding as well as a reference to the source.
d) The development of the case analysis
The case analysis was developed on the basis of the evaluation grid and the existing attempts at interpretation.
