Inter-System Negotiations Between Youth Psychiatry and Child Protection: A Study on Responding to the Many and Complex Needs of Young People

Abstract

The study examined how the dialogues and distractions of inter-system negotiations between two separate yet interconnected systems of youth psychiatry and child protection arise once an adolescent is simultaneously receiving youth psychiatric treatment and child protection care. The study also examined whether inter-system negotiations produce solutions for the many and complex needs of adolescents based on 81 youth psychiatric patient case documents subjected to thematic analysis. The reciprocal, informing, inquiring, and ensuring dialogues were used to address 80 cases. The distractive dialogues revealed unsolved needs of an adolescent. Altogether, system-level factors can affect the treatment and care offered for adolescents.