Young people with risky use of alcohol and drugs

Although the therapeutic effect of the alliance between the social worker and the client is widely recognized, the knowledge on what actually constitutes a successful alliance is limited. The factors at stake are mostly referred to as common factors and include the ability of the social worker to be warm, personal, caring and devoted towards the client.

The aim of this study is to increase the understanding of what resources a successful relationship between a social worker and a young client carries in the respect of enabling agentic behavior in the young client. With a bidirectional perspective on the construct of agency the relationship between the social worker and the young client is investigated through a collaboration with a drug prevention program in the municipality of Ale in the south-western part of Sweden, where young clients in the age between 14 and 18 together with their social worker are interviewed regarding their mutual relationship. The study is expected to expand the knowledge on how social workers establish functional relationship with young clients, relationships that in turn represents an important resource for the voice of the young client in his or her own process of change.

Participating researchers at University West

Sven Hassler

Partner

Ale kommun

Duration

-2016