Unit manager perspectives of a trauma-specific programme across Scotland’s secure estate

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess unit manager perspectives on the introduction of a group-based trauma-specific programme delivered across Scotland’s secure estate. As this was the first time such an estate-wide initiative had occurred, it was important to identify the benefits/challenges at a strategic level.

Design/methodology/approach

An exploratory qualitative case study was utilised involving semi-structured interviews with five senior unit managers in three secure units to discover their perceptions of the benefits and challenges of implementing Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT). A quasi-qualitative analysis was used to quantify and give meaning to manager responses. Inter-rater reliability of analysis was assessed.

Findings

Unit managers perceived gains in trauma-informed knowledge for themselves, and knowledge and skills gains for programme workers, care staff and adolescents. Challenges involved: managing a shift in paradigm to include a trauma-specific programme; the limiting context of competitive tendering; short duration placements; and the need for psychoeducation for staff, parents and agencies.

Research limitations/implications

Large sample sizes are likely to identify further issues for unit managers. Manager perceptions need directly compared with staff and adolescent perceptions and included in randomised control trials of trauma-specific programmes.

Practical implications

Managers perceived that TRT needed to be delivered within trauma-informed organisations and identified the need for manager training in traumatisation, trauma recovery and organisational implications to guide strategic planning. Managers emphasised the need for psychoeducation for families, staff and agencies.

Originality/value

The current study is the first in Scotland to explore unit manager experience of introducing a trauma-specific programme across the secure estate.

Citation

Barron, I. and Mitchell, D. (2017), "Unit manager perspectives of a trauma-specific programme across Scotland’s secure estate", Journal of Children's Services, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 271-287. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCS-04-2017-0012