What happens to children who don’t behave in residential care? A multi-informant mixed-methods study on discipline strategies

Abstract

In Portugal in 2021, 85% of children placed in out-of-home care were in non-specialised residential care. Evidence on discipline strategies used in these childcare contexts is scarce. This study aims at analysing the discipline strategies used by caregivers in residential care based on multiple informants’ reports - children/adolescents in care, caregivers, and directors. It follows a theoretical framework that includes and relates the concepts of quality in residential care, positive discipline, and the child’s rights. A total of 422 children/adolescents, 266 caregivers and 60 directors in 60 residential care centres participated in this study. Data on discipline strategies were collected by interviewing all the participants and analysed using a mixed methodology. A content analysis allowed for the identification of 32 subcategories, organised into six categories, which were computed into three major types of discipline strategies: Positive and Induction-Based Strategies, Punitive Strategies, and Strategies that Violate the Child’s Rights. Additionally, a cluster analysis based on the reports of the three informants led to the identification of three groups of residential care centres that used different discipline strategies - Punitive Centres, Inductive Centres, and Rights-Violating Centres. Findings showed that Punitive Centres tend to be gender-mixed and Rights-Violating Centres tend to be gender-segregated. This study also revealed the frequent use of punitive discipline strategies that violate the child’s rights in residential care, requiring the need to provide qualified training to caregivers on appropriate discipline strategies.