Abstract
ABSTRACTThe field of residential care for children and youth in Sweden is often termed unstable and turbulent. During recent decades the field has been subject to many changes. In this study, the development and changes in the field of residential care for children and youth in terms of ownership structure and treatment ideas will be analysed. The study is particularly focused on the changes in ownership structure that have taken place during the 2010s. It also analyses changes in treatment ideas, and discusses how these may relate to transformations of ownership structures as well as to dimensions of institutional logics, such as legislation and other types of normative pressure from the environment.The result reveals that of the approximately 450 treatment oriented residential care units (excluding homes for refugee children), close to 80 % are today run by private companies and to a growing extent by large for-profit corporations. Parallel – and possibly related – to the changes in ownership structure, the dominant treatment ideas have changed over time. The changes in the field can be summarised as a transformation from small-scale establishments with a family logic, to large-scale establishments with a professional logic, or more specifically from a domination of small family run units with milieu therapy to big business and a focus on evidence based interventions.
Highlights
The field of residential care for children and youth in Sweden is often referred to as unstable and turbulent
We will start this section by describing changes in the composition of the RCU field in terms of ownership structure, with specific focus on the diminishing proportion of small companies and the establishment of large ones
We have paid interest to possible connections between the two parallel developments as well as their relation to the institutional logics that characterise the field of residential care
Summary
The field of residential care for children and youth in Sweden is often referred to as unstable and turbulent. This sector has been subjected to numerous changes both in a long term and in a short-term perspective. In Sweden there are currently around 2000 residential care units (RCU, in Swedish HVB, Hem för Vård eller Boende) of which the great majority target asylum-seeking children.. In this article our interest concerns the ‘treatment oriented RCU’s’, meaning the RCU’s that target children who are placed for reasons such as maltreatment in the home environment or behavioural problems. Whereas the RCU’s that target asylum-seeking children function more like housing for minors without extensive treatment needs, the treatment oriented RCU’s have an explicit treatment focus. The treatment oriented RCU’s are currently around 450 in number
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