Listen to thisComing from your center, being there, teaming up, meeting them where they're at, interacting together, counseling on-the-go, creating circles of care, discovering and using self, and caring for one another.
During the past 40 years, significant advances have been made in understanding and developing professional Child and Youth Care with troubled children. In this article, which first appeared in the Journal of Child and Youth Care, 5.1 (1991), the literature is reviewed and concepts, principles and themes for teaching and learning are presented.
Child and youth care is about caring and acting – about being there, thinking on your feet, interacting, and growing with children. It is rich, intense, difficult work that requires passion and commitment. When it goes well, troubled children can make tremendous strides. When it goes poorly, their obstacles may seem almost impossible to overcome.
As important as it has always been, however, Child and Youth Care was not well understood or developed in North America until the middle of the century when a few pioneers began studying and writing about it. Since then there have been numerous contributions to the knowledge base from practitioners, teachers, and administrators. In this paper their work, and the themes that appear to from it will be reviewed.
A brief chronology of the professional Child and Youth Care literature
According to a study conducted by the National Organization of Child
Care Worker Associations (Krueger et al., 1987), professional Child and Youth Care in North America is practiced across a continuum of services
including treatment centers, group homes, correctional institutions,
special schools, temporary shelter care.
Facilities, independent living programs, foster and natural homes, communities, and street corners. Its roots, however, are in residential treatment. In the 1950's Child and Youth Care advocates began to write about residential treatment as a holistic method that with the proper skill and adequate knowledge of human development could be used to teach, treat, and nurture troubled children.
In Children Who Hate and Controls from Within: Techniques for the Treatment of the Aggressive Child, Redl and Wineman (1951 , 1957) introduced psychodynamic management techniques and ego support programs for residential care. Redl, a leading pioneer in the professionalization movement, also developed a popular counselling technique called “The Life Space Interview" (1959). Meanwhile, other pioneers like Myer (1958), Burmeister (1961), Trieschman et al. (1969), Foster et al. (1972), and Beker et al. (1972) wrote books about creating the therapeutic milieu. These books, of which The Other Twenty Three Hours (Treischman et al., 1969) is best known, provided a foundation for the systematic care of children and youth throughout the course of a day.
Others found new ways of applying psychodynamic, human development, sociological, cultural, and social learning theories. For example, Nicholas Long (Long, 1966; Long, et al., 1976; Powell, 1990), a student of Redl's, developed a child care method (The Conflict Cycle) for dealing with stress and anger. Maier (1975, 1979, 1987) identified the components of care and described the important role care and caregiving play in human development for children at home and away from home. Bronfenbrenner (1977, 1979), the recognized leader of a major paradigm shift in the science of human development, introduced ecological caregiving and caring human connections. Vorath and Brendtro (1974) developed a group method of caregiving that is based on sociological concepts. Weaver (1990) urged greater sensitivity to cultural differences and described methods of cross-cultural care. Several authors advocated for social learning and competency approaches (Durkin, 1990; Ferguson and Anglin, 1985; Fox 1990).
In a comprehensive textbook, Re-Educating Troubled Youth, Brendtro and Ness, (1983) reviewed major Child and Youth Care developments and practices from historical as well as modern perspectives. Proposals for improving the group care system, Child and Youth Care environments, and curricula for teaching Child and Youth Care work were also developed (Ainsworth and Fulcher, 1981; Beker and Feuerstein, in press; Krueger, 1986, 1990; Linton, 1969, 1971; Maier, 1987; McElroy, 1988; Reiger and DeVries, 1974; VanderVen, et al., 1982; Whittaker, 1980), as were additional books about techniques (Krueger, 1988; Savicki and Brown, 1981).
Recently, Brendtro et al. (1990) presented their research on the Native American Circle of Courage and encouraged members of the field to study and advocate for similar values of belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity in working with troubled children. Authors have also turned to creative writing as a way to describe the rich and intensive nature of the work and to portray the roles of self discovery and personal growth in Child and Youth Care (Condit, 1989; Fewster, 1990; Krueger 1987a, 1990). Finally, four recent anthologies, Choices in Caring (Krueger and Powell, 1990), Perspectives in Professional Child and Youth Care (Anglin et al. 1990), Knowledge Utilization in Child and Youth Care Practice (Beker and Eisikovits, in press), and Challenging the Limits of Care (Small and Alwon, 1988) include chapters that cover the scope of the field.
A review of these anthologies, the references cited earlier, and articles in Child and Youth Care Quarterly, The Journal of Child and Youth Care, The Journal of Child and Youth Care Work, and The Child Care Administrator, led to the conclusions discussed in the next sections.
Developmental care
Developmental care has become the central theme in Child and Youth Care
practice and in this context Maier's work (1979, 1987) is significant. A
collection of his papers, titled Developmental Group Care of
Children: Concepts and Practice (Maier, 1987), is the most
comprehensive analysis of care and its applications. In one pivotal
paper, The Core of Care: Essential Ingredients for the Development
of Children at Home and Away from Home (Maier, 1987, pp. 109-120),
he identifies the components in care as bodily comfort,
differentiations, rhythmic interactions, the element of predictability,
dependability, and personalized behavioral training. He concludes that
Child and Youth Care or caregiving requires sensitivity to and
interventions that address:
From his work and the work of many of the authors noted above, and others, at least eight basic principles appear to have emerged:
Child and youth care work themes
In comparing personal experiences (practicing and teaching care over
twenty years) with the literature, nine additional themes evolved. In
the author's opinion, these themes outline key knowledge areas for
teaching and learning in Child and Youth Care.
Coming from your Center
"I tell them to follow their bliss," Joseph Campbell, the famous
mythologist, responded during a television interview in which he was
asked what advice he gave students about choosing their work. After
devoting his life to studying myths and religions throughout history, he
knew that people could only be happy if they made choices that came from
their own spiritual center. Al Treischman, a renowned leader in this
field, once talked about having a “twinkle in your eye" for working with
children (Treischman, 1982) and workers often talk about a feeling they
have in their guts for the work. The message here is clear: the primary
motive for being a caregiver has to be that something in your center or
gut or heart or all of these is telling you this is what you want to do.
Without this feeling, there is not much that can be learned that will be
helpful.
Being there
Troubled children have been psychologically and or physically abandoned
throughout their lives and their greatest fear is that they will be
abandoned again. To trust and grow, they need dependable and predictable
connections (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Maier, 1987; Krueger and Powell,
1990) – caregivers who they can count on, who are on hand to talk when
they are ready, to support them when they are motivated to learn, to
encourage them to try again when they fail (Krueger, 1988) and to also
be there when they are neither ready, motivated, nor interested in a
helping hand. Thus, coming into the field requires a commitment to being
there with an understanding of the time it takes for troubled children
to begin to trust adults.
Teaming up
Teamwork is the in thing (Garner, 1988). Decisions about how to treat,
educate and care for youth require the insight and consensus of all
those who are involved in the lives of the children, including Child and Youth Care workers, administrators, consultants, parents, and the
children themselves. Further, these decisions need the mutual support of
everyone as they are being implemented.
Meeting them where they're at
We need to relate to and work with children as developing beings ... It
is important to remind ourselves that the developmental approach does
not permit preoccupation with deviant, pathological, or defective
behavior. ... When an individual's affect, behavior, and cognition are
evaluated as distinct processes, care workers can rely on predictable
patterns of development progression instead. (Maier, 1987, pp. 2-4).
Maier and the other developmentalists have shown that troubled children can only respond to self and skill-building interventions that are geared to their emotional, cognitive, social, and physical needs, and that are conducted in a process of care (Beker and Feuerstein, in press; Maier, 1987, pp.109-120). The goal is to meet them where they are at, with Child and Youth Care interventions (Durkin, 1990; Fox, 1990; Juul, 3989; Krueger, 1983; Maier, 1987; Munoz, Savicki and Brown, 1981) that focus on building strengths rather than concentrating on weaknesses.
Interacting together
"When we do things to youth and not with them, it's not going to work so
well" (Trieschman, 1982). “Children are not objects, they are subject
beings and caring is always an action carried out by one subject being
in regard to another subject being" (Austin and Halpin, 1989, p. 2).
This requires a nonjudgmental, unconditional caring attitude that is
based on valuing and understanding all children as unique individuals
who are capable of making their own choices (Fewster, 1990). Caregivers
can never consciously allow or give permission to children to do
anything physically or emotionally harmful to themselves or others, but
their greatest hope has to be that through their teaching, counselling,
and nurturing interactions with children, the children will learn and be
empowered to make the best choices for themselves (Krueger and Powell,
1990).
Counseling on the go
Crises are opportune times for adults to model and teach social and
emotional competence ... For children under stress we must interpret
adult intervention as an act of support and protection rather than
hostility. ... We must acknowledge and accept the feelings of children
without necessarily accepting the way in which they choose to express
them (Excerpts from Nicholas Long's principles of the Conflict Cycle as
summarized by Powell, 1990, p. 26).
Troubled children need counselling at bedtime, during kickball, in the arts room, and during fights and temper tantrums as much as during scheduled office visits; and no matter how tough or aggressive or passive they are at times, the prevailing underlying feelings they experience are anxiety, fear, sadness, and depression (Long et al., 1976; Redl, 1959; Trieschman, et al., 1969). With the use of psychodynamic (Long et al., 1976; Powell, 1990; Redl, 1959) guided group interaction (Brendtro and Ness, 1983), social learning (Fox, 1990), creative/ expressive (Juul, 1989; Pirozak, 1990) and self discovery (Fewster, 1990) techniques, they need help to learn alternative methods of expression and to cope with these feelings as they surface throughout the course of daily living.
Creating circles of care
In traditional Native society, it was the duty of all adults to serve as
teachers for younger persons. Child rearing was not just the
responsibility of biological parents but children were nurtured within a
larger circle of significant others. From the earliest days of life, the
child experienced a network of caring adults (Brendtro et al., 1990, p.
37).
In studying the Native American circle of courage, Brendtro, Brokenleg, and Van Bockern (1990) understood the ecology of care. Today in caregiving, as in most other helping professions, it is widely acknowledged that parents, siblings, relatives, helpers and members of the community are all part of a troubled child's circle of care, and long term change is dependent on making this circle functional again (Brendtro et al., 1990). Thus every effort has to be made to conduct care giving interventions in homes and communities, and in harmony with familial (Garfat, 1990) communal, cultural (Weaver, 1990), and interdisciplinary team systems (Fulcher, 1981; Garner, 1977, 1982, 1988; Krueger, 1987b; VanderVen, 1979) that are interconnected with a child's development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979).
Discovering and using self
"Charolette was inviting me to consider the idea that self-examination
and discovery is a process of observing self in action. At the broader
level this is compatible with the preference for cerebral realms of
theory and philosophy to follow experience, rather than vice versa"
(Fewster, 1990, p. 147). “The idea is that when we are experiencing
another person, particularly at the feeling or emotional level, we are
actually experiencing ourselves" (Fewster, 1990, p. 42).
These selected quotes come from conversations between a worker and his supervisor in Being in Child Care: A Journey into Self (Fewster, 1990), which beautifully exemplifies and summarizes the belief that a full understanding of and relationship formation with children can only be achieved through self awareness and discovery (Fewster, 1990). In Child and Youth Care, workers with the help of supervisors, teammates and teachers have to constantly strive to understand their own feelings and experiences in relationship to how they influence interactions with children and families.
Caring for one another
"It is inherent that caregivers be nurtured themselves and experience
sustained caring support in order to transmit this quality of care to
others" (Maier, 1987, p. 119). Child and youth care is difficult and
demanding work. To overcome the stress and fatigue, managers,
supervisors and practitioners in professional Child and Youth Care
organizations have to do everything possible to create a supportive,
caring environment for themselves (Bieman, 1987; Krueger, 1986a, 1986b,
1987b; Mattingly, 1977) with the awareness that the patterns of care
they create for one another are interconnected with the patterns of care
they create for the children.
In professional Child and Youth Care, coming from your center, being there, teaming up, meeting them where they're at, interacting together, counselling on the go, creating circles of care, discovering and using self, and caring for one another, are actions, thoughts and feelings that when woven together provide a foundation for effective daily interactions. Further, it is the holistic mix of teaching, counselling, and nurturing approaches as summarized above rather than any single approach that makes Child and Youth Care unique from other helping roles.
Conclusion
The growing knowledge base and the need for care
The references in this article are representative of the work of many
authors who drew upon both practice experiences and work from related
fields such as psychology, special education, social work, human
development, and the arts to collectively create a rich and exciting
knowledge base for a new profession. A knowledge base, however, is a
dynamic entity which is constantly changing and growing and open to
interpretation. This contribution is the result of one effort to
summarize and organize the literature at a given point and time. The
goals have been to provide an outline for curriculum development and to
encourage further investigation. With the changes in contemporary child
rearing patterns and the rising numbers of poor and dysfunctional
families (Carman and Small, 1988; FICE, 1988; Mech, 1988), the need to
learn and practice Child and Youth Care is greater than ever before.
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