Contact person intervention in child welfare: a thematic analysis of perspectives on relationship maintenance

This study explored relationship maintenance in the context of a Finnish contact person (CP) intervention aimed at providing non-professional support for children, young people and parents. As a social service, the CP intervention shares numerous similarities with other Nordic interventions and youth mentoring programmes. Two data sets were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis: focus group discussions illustrating the perspectives of seven CPs and two CP intervention coordinators, and field notes from follow-up meetings involving nine children (10 to 16 years), nine CPs, 11 parents and 14 professionals. The analysis yielded three thematic counterparts, each comprising two tensionally linked elements: 1) CP-child relationships were understood as involving two or more parties, 2) CPs were seen both as responsible adults and as synthetic friends, and 3) both the voluntary and obligatory nature of CP-child relationships was addressed. Although the data represented multiple perspectives, the CPs’ views were most prominent and thus highlighted in the analysis. The results showed that in its maintenance the CP-child relationship is a complex type of human relationship. Its maintenance extends beyond the individual and dyadic context to larger networks and the institutional contexts. Although the dyadic nature of the relationship and the child’s needs as the basis of the relationship are widely respected, parents, professionals and the social service context all contribute to the maintenance of the relationship. In CP intervention training and support, greater emphasis should be placed on clarifying the nature of a CP intervention and on identifying and purposefully utilising relationship maintenance strategies.