Shaping Social and Psychological Competencies or Intervening in a Crisis? Sociotherapists’ Experiences of Helping Adolescents in Poland

Abstract

Abstract Sociotherapists’ experiences of helping adolescents within the framework of sociotherapy were examined. There were 12 participants involved (three males), who were active sociotherapists from big cities in Poland. They were aged 30–60 years, with at least 4 years’ experience in the profession. We applied a qualitative approach to obtain in-depth, socio-contextual descriptions of the sociotherapists’ experiences. Interviews activated by a narrative stimulus were conducted. Both inductive (inspired by thematic analysis and a categorical-content perspective in narrative analysis) and deductive (based on theory of basic narrative forms) content analytic approaches were used to identify key helping factors. Two general themes revealed different paths of arranging help for adolescents in sociotherapeutic groups: (1) shaping of psychological competencies; (2) intervening in crises, encompassing dramatic actions going beyond process-based group work. Sociotherapy providers should have appropriate specialisms and procedures to implement the necessary interventions, as they go beyond the scope of the group-work aspect of sociotherapy.