Abstract
If you are a psychologist, a psychotherapist, a social worker, or belong to any other helping profession, you are probably anxious to get detailed information about the kinds of trouble a troubled girl suffers. In order to help her, you need to assess and categorize her trouble. Assessing problems and making a diagnosis are fundamental parts of the helping process. However, your efforts may not always be met by gratefulness and acceptance. The troubled girl may disagree and resist your way of characterizing her. This resistance puts you in trouble—how can you help someone who does not accept your view—but it may also put the troubled girl into increased trouble. She may exercise her resistance in such a way that her need for help becomes unacknowledged, she might be regarded as a girl without motivation for change, or she may just be distancing herself. But her resistance can also be favorable, in that it may help her to avoid some of the adversities connected with being classified as some kind of troubled person. In this chapter, the dilemma that occurs when the troubled themselves resist the prospective helpers’ efforts to classify them is addressed. The basic argument is that this dilemma cannot be solved unless the helper has the ability to recognize not only the girl’s troubles but also her overall competence and potential for creating a better life for herself.
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- 1.
The study was carried out with grants from The National Board of Institutional Care.
- 2.
We translate the Swedish term “särskilda ungdomshem” into “youth detention homes.” The National Board of Institutional Care uses the translation “special approved homes,” which in our opinion does not do justice to the fact that the homes in question are closed institutions and not family homes exclusively picked out to care for troubled adolescents.
- 3.
All names of persons and places have been changed to assure anonymity.
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Acknowledgments
The interview study of children witnessing violence was carried out with grants from the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS) and The Criminal Victim Fund (Brottsofferfonden).
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Hydén, M., Øverlien, C. (2013). The Trouble with “Troubled Girls”. In: Andershed, AK. (eds) Girls at Risk. Advancing Responsible Adolescent Development. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4130-4_9
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