Intervention Methods in Secure Care: What Is Going on for Society’s Most Vulnerable Children?

Secure care is used for the most vulnerable and high-risk children in society; however, there is insufficient research examining the way intervention methods are used in this context. This study uses a qualitative approach to examine the use of intervention methods with children in secure care. Data is obtained from 21 meetings with 81 professionals who are involved with children in secure care. The findings suggest that considerable variation exists in the way intervention methods are discussed by professionals. Of the 21 meetings, each regarding a different child, professionals discuss at least one method of intervention with 13 of the children. However, there is often a level of vagueness surrounding what is happening to a child as well as an absence of intervention methods for some children. This problem reflects a disconnect between assessment and intervention methods. We believe that applying ideas from Foucauldian discourse theory to secure care settings shows that the (over-)assessment of some children cannot be understood solely as a supportive element of practice, but instead it operates as a discursive and disciplinary mechanism that reinforces institutional controls and norms while marginalising intervention methods and concealing neglect.