Mental health support for youth offending teams: a qualitative study

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to examine the views of professionals working in youth offending teams (YOTs) on a new model for providing mental health service support within the context of an interagency setting. Focus groups were used and data were analysed according to the constant comparative method. The setting consisted of two YOTs, one in an inner-city area and the other in a rural/semi-urban area, where primary mental health workers operate at the interface between YOTs and the specialist child and adolescent mental health services. Seventeen YOT professionals participated in four focus groups. Four themes were identified: previous experiences of specialist mental health services; issues of interagency working; the role of the primary mental health worker within the YOT; and recommendations for the future. Overall, the clinical component of the role (assessment and intervention), and the accessibility and responsiveness of the mental health staff were consistently valued, while there were mixed responses on role definitions within the team, consultation and training. It is concluded that mental health service provision through primary mental health workers is a useful model for interagency partnerships for high-risk client groups with multiple and complex mental health needs.

‘Hanging on a Little Thin Line’: Barriers to Progression and Retention in Social Work Education

“…Focus groups were selected as the main way in which to collect data because their interactive nature creates synergies facilitating disclosure (Kitzinger, 1994;Gibbs, 1997;Finch & Lewis, 2003). They also resulted in people being interviewed in groups akin to their everyday lives within the institution (Callaghan et al, 2003). This helped the project team understand some of the key characteristics and processes operating within each HEI.…”

Decision-making in community-based paediatric physiotherapy: a qualitative study of children, parents and practitioners

“…Focus group discussion centred on staff experiences of working with children and families, their approaches to communicating with families and any recent changes in their styles of working with families. Focus groups were considered to be especially suitable for eliciting the views of individuals who work together as they enable participants to interact with each other (Kitzinger 1995), thereby increasing the possibility of gaining insight into work‐based practices (Callaghan et al . 2003).…”

Offender health and social care: a review of the evidence on inter-agency collaboration

“…The review suggests that this is an area marked by a relative absence of directly relevant independent research. Such empirical studies as were identified tended to be small-scale qualitative and ⁄ or case study based, notably relating to partnership working with and within YOTs (for example, Callaghan et al 2003, Burnett & Appleton 2004. By contrast, a number of larger scale, independent evaluations were identified which typically took overall implementation and performance of new criminal partnerships justice as their focus.…”