The purpose of this study has been to investigate and analyze what characterizes the group of unaccompanied youth who are referred to the Swedish secure care system (The National Board of Institutional Care), what causes the referrals and what charac-terizes the care in the secure care units, and how unaccompanied youth themselves perceive and understand both the referrals and the care. This has been investigated th-rough statistical analysis of SiS documentation and register data, interviews with SiS staff and social service staff, as well as interviews with unaccompanied youth referred to secure care.

The results show that unaccompanied youth are a heterogeneous group with a wide range of problems, and problems that partly differ compared to other youth referred to SiS. One the one hand, unaccompanied youth are perceived to have less extensive social problems compared to other youth in secure care, but on the other hand some have both heavier and more complex problems that have occurred for several years. The latter group is often referred to the specific category called “street kids”. The unaccompanied youth are also perceived to have more mental health and migration related problems in addition to limited understanding of the Swedish society.

The study indicates that both SiS and the social services have organizational limita-tions to meet the needs of unaccompanied youth, and that these limitations lead to con-flicts about how the problems should be defined, and which organization should have the main responsibility for the care of unaccompanied youth.

The study highlights differences both within and between the secure care units re-garding the staff’s expressed views and attitudes towards unaccompanied youth. The study indicates the importance of the management’s values and norms, and how they support common and professional approaches in the daily work with unaccompanied youth. SiS staff highlights language barriers as a significant obstacle in the work with unaccompanied youth, but they also provide strategies for overcoming these barriers through conscious communication and trust building approaches, and the recruitment of multilingual staff, Swedish education and translation of treatment programs.

Powerlessness and the unknown future, together with the lack of freedom, appear to be the most difficult part of the SiS placement for unaccompanied youth. Although edu-cation and regular school activities seem to be the most helpful support, school within SiS is also perceived as not a “real” school, because of too few teachers and subjects. The significance of the SiS care can be understood as linked to both relational aspects and treatment content, but also to relations, or lack thereof, outside SiS. In both staff and youth interviews, lack of supportive and trustful relations in addition to repeated break-ups from both professionals and other social contexts are highlighted as proble-matic for the unaccompanied youth referred to secure care. Compared to all secure care referrals, unaccompanied youth were more often acutely referred to SiS and a large proportion of the acute unit placements exceeded the SiS gui-delines for maximum care time in acute care units. Acute unit placements mean longer and indefinite time in secure care. For youth without a residence permit, the uncertain-ty that comes with the asylum process is also added to their uncertain life situation. The language barrier and lack of knowledge about Swedish rules and norm system also re-duces these young people’s ability to understand what is happening in their life, which increases their vulnerability in the secure care situation.

Syftet med den här studien har varit att undersöka och analysera vad som kännetecknar gruppen ensamkommande ungdomar som placeras inom Statens institutionsstyrelse (SiS), vad som föranleder dessa placeringar och kännetecknar insatserna från SiS, samt hur ensamkommande ungdomar själva uppfattar och förstår placeringen. Detta har undersökts genom analys av befintlig dokumentation inom SiS, intervjuer med personal från socialtjänst och SiS, samt med SiS-placerade ensamkommande ungdomar.

Resultaten visar att ensamkommande ungdomar som placeras på SiS är en heterogen grupp med stor spännvidd i problemens karaktär och omfattning, och att problemen delvis skiljer sig från andra SiS-placerade ungdomar. Inom gruppen ensamkommande ungdomar fanns både de som uppfattades ha mindre omfattande sociala problem än andra SiS-placerade ungdomar, och ungdomar som beskrevs ha en tyngre och mer komplex problematik. Till den senare gruppen nämndes ofta "gatubarn" som definierad kategori. Som specifikt för de ensamkommande ungdomarna framhölls också mer "psykiatrisk" och migrationsrelaterad problematik, samt att dessa ungdomar har liten kunskap om det svenska samhället.

Studien tyder på att både SiS och socialtjänsten har svårigheter med att organisatoriskt möta de ensamkommande ungdomarnas behov inom ramen för befintlig verksamhet, samt att detta lett till konflikter om hur problemen ska definieras och vilken organisation som ska bära det huvudsakliga ansvaret för att praktiskt ta hand om dem.