Purpose – Violence is a common problem in secure residential units for young people. Group workers often think that young people have to learn to behave by means of punishment. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether this approach is effective in these settings, and, if so, under what circumstances. Furthermore, it aims to provide alternatives to punishment when dealing with violence. Design/methodology/approach – Recent evidence on the effectiveness of punishment in secure residential units is reviewed. In addition, methods which are promising in dealing with violence are described. Findings – The review shows that punishment is often used to regain control by group workers or, alternatively, is a result of professional helplessness in the face of escalating problems. Only when the living group climate is marked by trust and cooperation can punishment be effective. Originality/value – Punishment in secure residential settings can have severe negative consequences. Nevertheless, group workers are tempted to use it as a response to violence in an attempt to gain control.

UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) The impact of classroom climate on students' perception of social exclusion in secondary special education

No abstract

This study examined the internal structure, convergent validity, and reliability of the student self-report Special Education Classroom Climate Inventory (SECCI) in a sample of 325 students attending special education classes in six (semi) secure residential settings and in two youth prisons in the Netherlands. Both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) provided evidence of a theoretically based four-factor model-with Teacher Support, Positive Student Affiliation, Negative Student Interactions, and Unstructured Classroom Environment as dimensions-showing an adequate fit to the data, providing preliminary support for validity of the SECCI. Limited evidence for convergent validity was found in significant but small associations between classroom climate and academic self-concept. Ordinal Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficients were good for all factors. The SECCI might be used to assess and subsequently target (problematic) classroom climate in schools for special education for students in (secure) residential youth care and youth prisons, although further development of the SECCI and replication of our study results seem necessary.

No abstract