Peter AnderssonSenior lecturer
Research projects
Publications
A selection from Stockholm University publication database
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Ett osynligt offerskap - Institutionsplacerade tjejers erfarenheter av våld i en nära relation
2025. Sibel Korkmaz, Peter Andersson. Tvång på gott och ont, 375-398
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Intimate partner violence among young people in special residential homes for youths: the dynamics between victimization and social destructive behavior
2025. Sibel Korkmaz, Peter Andersson. Nordic Social Work Research, 1-14
ArticlePå senare tid, i Sverige och andra nordiska länder, har det funnits en växande fokus på våld i nära relationer (IPV) bland ungdomar, vilket markerar ett relativt nytt erkännande av unga individer som potentiella erbjudanden för sådant våld. Ändå kvarstår kunskapsluckor när det gäller unga erbjudande för IPV som möter ytterligare sociala problem. En specifik lucka gäller ungdomar på särskilda boenden för ungdomar (SRHYs), och deras erfarenheter av ungdoms IPV. Den här studien tittar på unga individer som placerats inom SRHY som drivs av den svenska regeringen och deras erfarenheter av IPV före placering. Med utgångspunkt i 16 intervjuer gjorda med IPV-viktimiserade kvinnliga ungdomar i SRHYs, visar hur det är att vara en person med ett socialt problem som missbruk och även att utsättas för IPV. Vi utvecklar denna bild med hjälp av fyra underteman: våldsexponering ('nära döden'), omfattande viktimisering, pojkvännens del av det sociala destruktiva beteendet och ifrågasatt viktimisering ('Det visade sig vara sant'). Våra resultat kompletterar kunskapsbasen om IPV för ungdomar och specifikt om hur unga omhändertagna på SRHY beskriver sin utsatthet. Sammantaget bidrar till studier med viktig kunskap för socialsekreterare om hur det är att vara ung och möta ytterligare sociala problem samtidigt som de utsätts för IPV.
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Über Restriktionen zu Kinderrechten? Über neu ausgehandelte Ideologien im Umgang mit jungen Menschen in schwedischen stationären Einrichtungen
2024. David Pålsson, Peter Andersson, Emelie Shanks. Neue Praxis 19, 107-120
ArticleStationäre Wohngruppen und Heime sind ein integraler Bestandteil der meisten Kinder- und Jugendhilfesysteme. Ein wesentliches Hauptmerkmal ist dabei die spezifische Verschmelzungpsychosozialer Hilfe und Kontrolle. In Schweden wird eine heterogene Gruppe von jungenMenschen in stationären Settings betreut. Dabei trägt die Kinder- und Jugendhilfe dieumfangreiche Verantwortung auch für jugendliche Straftäter*innen. Der Bereich derstationären Unterbringung junger Menschen wird daher in geschlossene und offeneUnterbringung unterteilt: Die geschlossenen Unterbringungseinheiten (secure Residential CareUnits (RCUs)) werden vom Staat betrieben und sind zur Anwendung restriktiver M-.aßnahmenberechtigt, während die offenen stationären Einrichtungen überwiegend an gewinnorientierteprivate Träger ausgelagert sind, die keine derartigen Maßnahmen anwenden. In der politischenDiskussion wurden stationäre Wohngruppen und Heime als Unterbringungsform in der KinderundJugendhilfe lange Zeit vernachlässigt, doch in letzter Zeit hat diese Jugendhilfeleistungpolitische Aufmerksamkeit auf sich gezogen. Diese fokussiert sich zum einen aufKinderrechtsverletzungen in stationären Einrichtungen in privater Trägerschaft und zumanderen auf das vermeintliche Versagen des Systems bei der wirksamen Resozialisierung vonJugendlichen mit delinquentem Verhalten in den geschlossenen stationären Einrichtungen.Derzeit werden öffentliche Untersuchungen zu den teilweise widersprüchlichen ThemenKinderrechte und verstärkten repressiven Maßnahmen durchgeführt. In diesem Beitrag wirdanalysiert, wie Kinderrechte und Restriktionen in stationären Einrichtungen in den jüngstenöffentlichen Untersuchungen und Richtlinien der schwedischen Regierung diskutiert undadressiert werden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Regierung a) sich stärker an Straf- undZwangsmaßnahmen orientiert, b) darauf drängt, die offene stationäre Unterbringung stärker andie geschlossene Unterbringung anzugleichen, und c) einen rigideren, d.h. auf Disziplin und Sanktionen Setzenden Ansatz ingeschlossenen Einrichtungen umsetzt. Die Vorschläge werden auf der Grundlage vonUntersuchungen zu Rechten und Einschränkungen in der stationären Unterbringung erörtert.
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“No Story, No Response”: Narratives from Girls Subjected to Youth Intimate Partner Violence and Placed at Special Residential Homes in Sweden
2024. Peter Andersson, Sibel Korkmaz. Residential Treatment for Children & Youth, 1-26
ArticleSeveral studies have suggested a high prevalence of violence inyoung people’s romantic relationships. A significant gap in knowl-edge persists, however, regarding how young people in specialresidential homes for youth (SRHY) in Sweden characterize andcommunicate about the violence they experience in their relation-ships, as well as how they describe societal responses to suchviolence within their networks, including from professionals. Sixteen in-depth interviews were conducted with girls from threedifferent SRHYs using Hydén’s “teller-focused” approach. Responses varied based on the girls’ personal networks and pro-fessional connections. A common denominator, however, is thatthe girls had disclosed the violence, described as exceptionallysevere, to any external person to only a limited extent. Many ofthem shared their experiences of victimization for the first timeduring the interview, prompting a reconsideration and clarificationof the relational aspects of the interview procedure and resulting inthe conceptualization of a new interview procedure: the relationalinterview approach. This approach has implications for the practi-calities of engaging in a conversation with a young person who hasexperienced violence.
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Beyond professional terms – the family metaphor in staff descriptions of their relations to young people in secure
2024. Peter Andersson, Marie Sallnäs. Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care 23 (1), 7-23
ArticleOne premise for the organisation of residential care for youthis that staff are expected to relate to each young personindividually, but also to the group of young people as a whole.The relational interplay between staff and placed youths insecure unit care is fundamentally based on asymmetry, withinteractions taking place in a context of confinement. The aimhere is to explore how staff working in secure institutionalcare for youths in Sweden understand and describe theirrelationships with youth in terms that extend beyondprofessionalism, and especially their use of the familymetaphor. Fifty-three interviews with staff were analysed in atwo-step qualitative analysis, which generated three themesthat highlighted staff narratives focusing on descriptions ofparenting, sibling relationships, and closeness without usingthe family metaphor. One conclusion is that despite an overallshift away from the family metaphor, in the direction offraming residential care in professional terms, the familyconcept seems to sit quite well even in an environment withambitions to provide professional care. The family metaphormay not be the cornerstone of care, but it is eminentlypresent.
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Exploring stakeholder perspectives to facilitate the implementation of shared decision-making in coordinated individual care planning: [Utforskande av stakeholderperspektiv för att stödja implementeringen av delat beslutsfattande i samordnad individuell vårdplanering]
2023. Peter Andersson (et al.). European Journal of Social Work, 1-13
ArticleThis article explores conditions for implementing shared decision-making(SDM) in coordinated individual care planning (CIP) with individuals withcomplex mental health needs. SDM in CIP are described as central,although such user centred collaboration still remains to be realised.Research underlines the need for a changed way of working, whereuser expertise is valued and a balance of power is promoted. The aimof the present study is to investigate the conditions for implementingSDM in connection with CIP for and with people with mental illness. Tobetter understand the context and conditions that can promote such animplementation, altogether 15 participants were interviewed in threeregions in Sweden within the scope of a stakeholder analysis. Bothhindering and supporting factors were identified with respect to animplementation process, such as staffturnover, differences in workculture and committed leadership. Further focus should be directedspecifically towards professionals working more closely with CIP andtowards in-depth analysis of the construct of culture in terms ofimplementation processes.
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Treatment in the context of confinement: understanding the barriers and possibilities for facilitating change in at-risk youth
2023. Ann-Karina Henriksen (et al.). Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kriminalvidenskab 110 (3), 312-331
ArticleIn this article the authors present a meta-synthesis of their studies on secure institutions in Sweden and Denmark. The aim of the metasynthesis is to explore how the context of confinement shapes the possibilities for providing treatment and positive change for at-risk youth. Drawing on meta-synthesis methodology the authors extract content from nine studies published in 20 articles. We highlight three dimensions, which are a) treatment practices and behavioural regulation, b) the carceral materialities and sociomaterial practices, and c) relations. We argue that while treatment is curtailed by confinement, improvements can be made to support more successful change among at-risk youth and smooth their transition into adulthood.
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Bokrecension: Revitalizing residential care for children and youth. Cross-national trends and challenges. Whittaker K.J., Holmes, L., Del Valle J.F., & James, S. (red.) Oxford University Press: Oxford. (2023)
2023. Peter Andersson, David Pålsson. Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift 30 (2), 672-674
ArticleInstitutionsvård för barn och ungdomar (kollektiv vård och behandling dygnet runt) är en ofta ifrågasatt insats. Att föra samman barn med stora behov är förenat med risker och det finns ont om forskningsstudier som tydligt kan visa institutionsvårdens nytta för barns utveckling. Vårdformen präglas återkommande av skandaler och i Sverige rapporterades nyligen om våld och övergrepp vid Statens Institutionsstyrelses (SiS) särskilda ungdomshem. EU (Europeiska unionen) förordar “avinstitutionalisering” som överordnat mål och många länder, inklusive Sverige, prioriterar vård i familjehem framför institutioner. Samtidigt har institutionsvård en befäst position inom samhällsvård världen över. I Sverige är omkring vart fjärde barn i samhällsvård placerad vid ett HVB- eller SiS-hem. Svensk institutionsvård (SiS-hemmen undantagna) utförs på en löst sammanhållen marknad där vårdutbudet till stor del bestäms av privata aktörer.
I antologin Revitalizing residential care for children and youth. Cross-national trends and challenges (Oxford University Press, 2023) diskuteras institutionsvård i sexton västländer (inklusive Argentina). Boken gör nedslag i så skilda länder som USA, Spanien, Israel, Finland och Tyskland (dessvärre ingår inte Sverige i antologin). Syftet med boken är att ge en bild av hur institutionsvård används i olika länder, men även att identifiera framgångsrika praktiker.
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A professional field? Educational attainments, gender and age among staff in Swedish residential care
2023. David Pålsson (et al.). Residential Treatment for Children & Youth
ArticleIn this article, we discuss residential staff in Sweden. Here, residential care is part of the municipal child welfare system, which covers services targeting juvenile delinquency as well as other residential care services. Children and young people placed in Swedish residential care have diverse needs, from mainly supportive needs to advanced behavioral problems, and the field consists of open and secure residential care units. There is limited knowledge about the staff working in residential care. This article helps to fill this knowledge gap by giving an overall picture of staff educational attainments, age and gender in Swedish residential care between the years of 2008–2020. To reason about staff qualifications, we use theoretical concepts from sociological theory on professions. Findings show that residential care in Sweden can be analyzed as a pre- professional field, dominated by staff with low levels of educa-tion. In addition, we show that the field is dominated by women – even if the proportion of men is higher than in other areas of social work – and that the majority of staff are between 30 and 64 years old. Some differences between open and secure residential care were found, the most notable concerning edu-cational levels and gender.
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Yrkeserfarenheter av våld och emotionella strategier. Röster från personalen på de särskilda ungdomshemmen
2022. Peter Andersson. Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift 29 (2), 151-171
ArticleDuring the 2000s, the National Board of Institutional Care (SiS) has reported an increase in violent incidents between staff and young people. This article focuses the staffs´ professional everyday life, especially descriptions of how they handle violence in their professional everyday life and what directions the violence takes. The staffs´ everyday work is often depicted on the basis of various dilemmas and tensions, which can affect how they maneuver in terms of how they deal with, and are affected by, violence during their professional working day. The purpose of this article is to illustrate how staff describe the violence they encounter in terms of form, direction and extent, including their own handling of the violence. The theoretical starting point regarding violence is taken from a relational perspective where context, situation, form and intention are important for how violence is understood. The staff’s work is understood with the help of both Hochschild’s and Bolton’s descriptions of emotional work, where emphasis is placed on the development that Bolton pointed out regarding the importance of colleagues regarding feeling-rules. Fifty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff at three different secure units for adolescents in Sweden. The material was organized through a thematic analysis, yielding four themes placed under two headings; ‘A violent scene? A matter of definition’ and ‘Handling violence: strategies employed’. The results show how staff describe youth as the violent party and how they suppress their own emotions. Additionally, staff articulated their own use of violence toward youth and their emotional stance, describing an interpersonal shield that protected them from violence. The results underline the importance of raising questions about the nature of violence in secure units for adolescents and how staff handle such violence in their everyday work.
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Secure Units as Emotional Sites: Staff Perceptions of Fear and Violence at Secure Units for Young People in Sweden
2022. Peter Andersson. Residential Treatment for Children & Youth, 1-29
ArticleSecure units for adolescents are emotion-filled places for various reasons, yet previous studies have shown that fear seems to be an emotion which is difficult to deal with in these workplaces. This paper examines how secure unit staff describe their workday, focusing on fear. The analysis applies theories about emotional work as well as the concept of fear. The article builds on 53 semi-structured interviews with staff at three secure units for detained boys and girls run by the Swedish National Board of Institutional Care. The findings illustrate different ways in which staff handle emotions, such as fear, at these institutions. Results are discussed with respect to five themes: (a) the importance of control; (b) safety: not a regular workplace; (c) not my anxiety, but the young person’s; (d) security: standing safe with co-workers; and (e) the ambiguous fear. The results show the importance of taking emotions seriously in daily work, as this renders visible how staff emotionally socialize into their organization. Due to a lack of education and professional identity among staff, the socialization process is highly relevant, as it is primarily perceptions of youth and co-workers that control and develop professionalization for staff.
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Countertransference and therapeutic holding: Working with a perpetrator of domestic violence
2022. Peter Andersson. Psychodynamic Practice, 1-21
ArticleIn the context of the treatment of perpetrators of violence, psychodynamic discourse has often focused on individual aggression and other related emotions and mental phenomena, such as anger, rage, cruelty, sadism and brutality. Psychodynamic theory has been less explicit, however, about how to address an individual’s actual violent acts within the psychotherapeutic setting. This article aims to address this gap. It illustrates how psychoanalytic theory – most notably through Winnicott, Fonagy and Glasser – can be used to inform thinking about, and interventions with, men who use violence against their children and partners, using a clinical case that describes psychotherapeutic work with a perpetrator of domestic violence. The article concludes that the psychotherapist’s countertransference is an important tool in working with men who use violence, and highlights the importance of the therapist’s capacity for impulse regulation, emotional understanding, and handling of his or her own aggression.
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Victims, perpetrators, scapegoats and Russian dolls
2021. Peter Andersson. Qualitative Social Work
ArticleA rise of violent incidents at secure units for adolescents has been reported by the Swedish National Board of Institutional Care. Meanwhile, research aiming to understand how staff manage violence seems to be lacking. By examining an in-depth narrative by one staff member, “Meral”, this study aims to understand, on the one hand, how staff describe the violence they encounter in light of the context and situation, and on the other, how they describe their handling of violence from outside the immediate environment. Drawing on Georgakopoulou and Bamberg, identities are understood to be produced and performed within personal narratives from different positions in relation to one’s surroundings. The study shows how Meral’s professional identity is shaped and affected by violence. Of essential importance is the way Meral presents herself to herself: as “not afraid.” A narrative interpretation is that fear does not fit within the framework of the professional identity for staff. A key element of placing essential responsibility on staff to manage violence is keeping lines of communication open, which could be made clearer in policy documents, training and supervision. Therefore, studies like this one could result in the development of communication strategies for staff. This is important because emotional rules can generate emotional cultures that in the long run can be destructive for both staff and young people. Only when the emotional rules are identified can staff develop strategies for dealing with the violent incidents that are part of their professional life in a qualified way.
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Hot, våld och emotionellt arbete på de särskilda ungdomshemmen
2021. Peter Andersson (et al.).
Thesis (Doc)The aim of this dissertation is to describe how staff working at secure units define violence, the ways in which they say violence affects them emotionally, and the ways they emotionally handle violence. The secure units (särskilda ungdomshem) are managed by the Swedish National Board of Institutional care (Statens Institutionsstyrlese, SiS). The daily work of staff members is often described in terms of various dilemmas, challenges and tensions. Staff work in a context where they are at the intersection between care and punishment. How they respond to these dilemmas, challenges and tensions can affect how they handle violence. The organization (i.e. the institution) requires staff to induce or suppress emotions in order to sustain outward attitudes that produce a proper state of mind. Therefore, secure units are defined as an emotional place for both youth and staff.
The dissertation consists of four articles that explore different forms and directions of violence in the daily work of staff, and the ways that staff describe the impact of violence on their professional and private lives. The empirical data consist of 53 individual staff interviews (articles 1–3) and five focus groups with 27 staff members (article 4). Three overarching theoretical concepts are deployed: emotional work, narrative and violence.
The main findings from these papers can be summarized as follows: Staff talked about the extent and forms of violence that characterize their everyday work (articles 1 and 4), mostly in the form of stories where they described being exposed to both psychological and material violence. The frequency of this violence ranged from occasional to daily. Staff also talked about how they emotionally handled both perceived and acted-out violence, and how such violence can affect their professional role (articles 2 and 3). A common strategy seems to be role-taking. That is, staff members think they are exposed to violence in their role as “staff”, not as private individuals. This paves the way for the normalization of violence as a strategy for dealing with everyday professional life. Furthermore, staff attribute violence to youth in an explicit way. This means that staff members find it difficult to reflect on their own responsibility and the fact that they are, in fact, co-creators of most incidents of violence.
The overall results of the four papers are additionally organized around three themes: (1) the position of the young person: perpetrator, (2) working with violence in a caring context and (3) prohibited workplace emotions. Traces of these themes can be found in all four articles and they are clearly linked to the dissertation’s theoretical concepts. In conclusion, it is possible to describe these three themes as an expression of organizational shortcomings in which the staff are trapped.
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Handling fear among staff: violence and emotion in secure units for adolescents
2020. Peter Andersson. Nordic Social Work Research 10 (2), 158-172
ArticleThe Swedish National Board of Institutional Care (SiS) has reported a rise in violent incidents between staff and youth placed in secure units. This paper explores how secure unit staff narratively position themselves and youth when speaking about violence, and how staff describe the emotional impact violence has on them. The paper takes two theoretical starting points. First is the concept of emotional labour, including feeling rules, emphasizing that staff work with the emotions of others whilst also being expected to control their own. Second is the idea that the interaction among staff shapes various social representations and positionings. Five focus groups were conducted with staff (n = 27) who worked with both boys and girls at three different secure units in Sweden. The empirical data was first processed through narrative analysis and then by an interaction analysis. The results, presented as four excerpts within four themes, reveal collegial processes of narrative helping that steer group members to find emotional positions when talking about experienced violence, i.e., to find appropriate feeling rules. Furthermore, despite counter-narratives expressed by participants in the focus group, a representation of youth as violent persists. Finally, emotional labour seems to involve working with one’s own feelings and controlling the emotions of youth, not the opposite. The results suggest how important it is for staff to recognize youth from different templates and that violence can take various forms, and furthermore, that it is essential to make the emotion of fear visible in this context.
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Violence, role reversals, and turning points: work identity at stake at a therapeutic residential institution for adolescents
2020. Peter Andersson, Carolina Överlien. Journal of Social Work Practice
ArticleThis article focuses on how one staff member at a therapeutic residential institution negotiates his work identity, exploring how he narrates a violent incident, the formation of work identity, and how the adolescent figures within these processes. Mishler argues that when speaking, we perform identity. As social actors, we select and organize language, telling stories that fit the audience, our intentions, and the occasion. The article is framed both theoretically and methodologically through the assumption that narrative is a fundamental human way of giving meaning to our experiences. Identities are understood as being produced and performed within personal narratives. Thus, in an interview situation, narratives provide an interactive space for personal subjectivities to be expressed and enacted. Drawing on Mishler, we find three essential "turning points" that shape Alex’s work identity: (1) the violent incident, (2) the adolescent’s return to the ward, and (3) Alex’s subsequent change of wards. We interpret Alex’s narrative as a "narrative of resistance" that may have practical day-to-day implications for the field of institutional care and help expand the staff’s clinical toolbox. Further, Alex’s narrative is a vital example of stories of violence, which can be incorporated into policy documents on violence management.
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Emotional adjustments to violent situations at secure units for adolescents: A staff perspective
2020. Peter Andersson. Emotion, Space and Society 37
ArticleSecure units for adolescents are emotion-filled places. This paper examines how secure unit staff are socialized to match emotions to violent situations in a dynamic social context according to different feeling rules. The analysis applies theories about emotional culture as well as feeling rules. The article builds on 53 semi-structural interviews with staff at three secure units for detained boys and girls run by the Swedish National Board of Institutional Care. The findings illustrate different ways in which staff adjust their feelings in violent situations by both breaking and following rules. Results are discussed with respect to three themes: (1) emotional adjustments tuned to co-workers; (2) emotional adjustments tuned to self; and (3) emotional adjustments tuned to youth behaviour. The results show the importance of taking emotions seriously in daily work, as this makes it possible to visualize how staff emotionally socialize into their organization. Due to a lack of education and professional identity among staff, the socialization process is highly relevant, as it is primarily perceptions of youth and co-workers that control and develop feeling rules for staff.
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Behandlande arbete medvåldsutövande fäder
2020. Peter Andersson. Mellanrummet 40 (4), 25-32
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I mötet med en annan människa
2019. Peter Andersson. Mellanrummet 38 (1), 81-83
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‘If you take it personally you break’ Neglected voices on violence in secure units for adolescentssw
2018. Peter Andersson, Carolina Överlien. Social Work and Social Sciences Review 19 (3), 61-80
ArticleTo a large degree, the voices of staff running daily operations in secure units for adolescents, particularly on sensitive issues such as violence and abuse, have been missing. The aim of the present paper is to make these voices heard by investigating what forms of violence staff in secure units encounter in their day-to-day work and to deepen our understanding of how they handle it. The study uses two theoretical starting points. First, the secure unit is understood in terms of Berger and Luckmann’s concept of institutionalisation, emphasising how behaviour and practices develop through well-defined roles. Secondly, inspiration is drawn from Goffman’s notion of frontstage and backstage, highlighting how staff within an institution (i.e. secure unit) enter into different roles. Fifty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff at three different secure units for adolescents in Sweden. The material was organised through a thematic analysis, yielding six themes placed under two headings; ‘A violent scene? A matter of definition’ and ‘Handling violence: strategies employed’. The results show how staff describe youth as the violent party and how they suppress their own emotions. Additionally, staff articulated their own use of violence toward youth and their emotional stance, describing an interpersonal shield that protected them from violence. The results underline the importance of raising questions about the nature of violence in secure units for adolescents and how staff handle such violence in their everyday work.
Show all publications by Peter Andersson at Stockholm University
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