Building relationships with young people in residential care from a practitioner’s perspective.

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to explore the practitioners’ perspective on building relationships in residential care. The main aim of this research is to gain insight into the participants perspective on the meaning and importance of building relationships with young people in residential care.The existing body of research provided the researcher with knowledge of past research and studies. The researcher used both national and international research to help conduct this research.The research was carried out by using a qualitative exploratory research approach. Semi-structured interviews were used to explore practitioners’ perspective on the importance of building relationships with young people in residential care. The researcher interviewed six participants aged between twenty-three and thirty-seven. The research looked at two main objectives. To investigate the meaning and importance of relationships for this young group from a practitioner’s perspective. To identify where opportunities for developing relationships arise and the barriers which may be encountered in making and maintaining these relationships.These topics allowed the researcher to gain a more in-depth look at building relationships from a practitioners’ perspective.The findings indicated that all six participants agreed that building a relationship with young people in residential care is one of the most important aspects of working in residential care. Participants noted that when you build a relationship with a young person this means that the work carried out with the young person is far more productive and the young person is more likely to progress themselves in their own personal lives. Participants agreed that opportunities for building relationships can occur in the simple day-to-day tasks, spending quality time with the young person and also if a young person is going through a crisis. The participants perception on barriers faced when trying to build a relationship occurred for several reasons. The young person may not want to be in residential care, their past can be a factor, age and a breakdown of communication. Participants felt that when dealing with these barriers that it is important to remain consistent with the young person.