Tensions and Trade-Offs – Staff’s Understanding of Children as Rights Holders in Secure Care

This article explores how staff in Swedish secure care value and understand the rights of the children and young people in their care. To be a staff member in secure care means having a professional role that includes viewing and relating to young people as individual rights holders in a setting where care and treatment shall be provided to a group of young people. However, this occurs in an environment characterised by strong coercive and controlling elements. The study shows that the viewing and handling of children’s rights is dependent on various trade-offs that staff make. Negotiations about what should be seen as rights frequently take place, leading to tensions regarding children’s status as individual rights holders. The study adds knowledge about how staff describe the nature of these tensions in the daily life of secure care units. Implications for practice are discussed.