Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care vol 3(2) August/September 2004

Contents

Editorial

The Mental Health of Young People Looked After by Local Authorities in Scotland Howard Meltzer, Deborah Lader

The survey of the mental health of young people looked after by local authorities in Scotland was the second major national survey focusing on the development and well-being of young people to be carried out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The first survey, carried out in 1999, obtained information about the mental health of nearly 900 young people living in private households in Scotland (Meltzer, Gatward, Goodman & Ford, 2000). Both surveys were commissioned by the Scottish Executive Education Department and the Scottish Executive Health Department.

Residential Special Schooling: The Inclusive Option! Robin Jackson

Culham and Nind (2003) have argued that normalisation and inclusion are guiding philosophies which have a common end but radically different approaches to attaining that end. Whilst there is a shared desire to see people with special needs as valued members of the community, there is a fundamental difference. In normalisation, community presence and value are earned through minimising difference, whereas in inclusion, the person’s difference is welcomed and valued. One way of eradicating that difference is through the process of assimilation (Allan, 1999). Assimilation, however, is at odds with the kind of empowerment strategies adopted by most other devalued groups (for example: ethnic minorities; women; people with physical and sensory disabilities) who celebrate their differences and welcome congregative identity and activity.

Programmes & Praxis: A Review of Taken-for-Granted Knowledge Leon Fulcher

Over the past decade, the term programme has entered the daily language of residential child and youth care workers, managers and planners in Scotland, almost as though it has always described a schedule of activities and routines operating in and around group care services. This term has been used extensively in North America since the end of the Second World War but was much less common in the United Kingdom until recent years. References to programme vary, ranging from personalised care & treatment programmes or curricula, as with the components of an anger-management programme, to directed-learning opportunities using programmed instruction or a schedule of service outputs supplied through purchase of service agreements with government.

A Qualitative Study of Support for Young People who Self-Harm in Residential Care in Glasgow. Judith Piggot, Charlotte Williams, Stephen McLeod, Joanne Barton

A recent study found that 39 per cent of young people in residential care in Scotland had self-harmed compared to 18 per cent of young people living with their birth parents and 14 per cent of young people in foster care (Meltzer, Lader, Corbin, Goodman & Ford, 2004). Another study of young people with experience of residential care in Glasgow found that almost half of respondents had self-harmed or injured themselves at some point in their lives and that the self-harm had predominantly occurred while the young people were living in residential care. Indeed, this study in Glasgow found that one-third of 13-17 years olds in residential care had self-harmed and that 10 per cent of young people in residential care used self-harm as a coping strategy when distressed compared to less than 1 per cent of young people in the general population (Scottish Health Feedback, 2001). These studies suggest that despite the belief that young people’s needs can be better met in residential care settings, youngpeople in residential care actually constitute a high-risk population for selfharm (Robinson, Auckland, Crawford & Nevison, 1999). Studies to date in residential care settings suggest that elevated levels of emotional and behavioural disturbance continues and it remains unclear if the experience of residential care addresses the needs of young people who self-harm (Vostanis, 2000).

Scottish Health Network: Promoting the Health and Well-Being of Children and Young People in and Leaving Care Steven McCluskey, Elaine Greaves and Carole Kean

The health interests of young people in and leaving local authority care have received increased attention at a political and practice level in Scotland in recent years. A growing body of Scottish research is contributing to our understanding of the health needs and issues of this vulnerable and excluded group of children and young people. At the end of 2003, NHS Health Scotland led a conference that focused on the health of looked after children. This provided a muchneeded opportunity to bring together key stakeholders from agencies concerned with improving the health of young people in and leaving care. This event was considered to be a welcome and valuable contribution to the growing interest in this extremely important topic.

The Experiences of Children and Young People with Complex Needs Being Cared For Away from Home: A Cross Border Study Kirsten Stalker, Charlotte MacDonald, Rena Phillips, John Carpenter

This paper reports some key . ndings from a two year study, commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which focused on children with complex needsbeing cared for away from home for one month or longer. Morris (1995), in a review of policy and research concerning disabled children living away from their families, concluded that these young people experienced ‘patterns of care which would never be tolerated for non-disabled children’ (Morris, 1995, p.89). She suggested that a major barrier to meeting these children’s needs lies in the hidden nature of their experiences, with little information available about who they are and what their lives are like.

Creating a Place for Us: An Overview of the FICE Young People’s Conference 2004 Irene Stevens

Conferences like this allow us to get together, to share information, experiences and more importantly, it gives us an excellent opportunity to make friends. Throughout the last three days I’ve laughed, danced, played sport and, most importantly, learnt so much about different cultures and nationalities. Not all of us speak the same language and yet we have managed to communicate and laugh together.(Delegate to the FICE Young Person`s Conference at the end of the FICEInternational Congress)