Strategy for Working With Adolescents in Difficulty: Motivation Through a Humanitarian Work Project

Abstract

Adolescents who are placed in residential care with child welfare services have many personal and family problems. They also tend to have notable difficulties with social skills. The Centre jeunesse de Québec-Institut universitaire (CJQ-IU) in partnership with the local school system, conducted a humanitarian work project in Peru with teenagers in residential care. The project's goals were to help adolescents develop their self-esteem and succeed in overcoming challenges at the individual and interpersonal levels. This article presents the results of an evaluative study conducted as part of the project. In many respects, the information gathered confirms the importance of being creative and innovative when working with adolescents in difficulty and developing partnerships with the different practitioners who work with them. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the possibilities that social work approaches based on adventure, travel to different cultures, and humanitarian work can offer.