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The isolation of children and youth in state youth homes is steadily increasing, and has nearly doubled in three years, a new study reveals.
Younger girls, in particular, are exposed to isolation.
– It is a negligence that in nine out of ten cases can be avoided, says Izabell Naj.
In a debate article published today in Aftonbladet, seven people, who have experienced isolation in the government’s so-called SiS homes, criticize the treatment. Several have been isolated more than a hundred times. The method is called “separation” by authority, but the authors of the article call the word a paraphrase of beautification.
– It’s isolation. You are locked up alone in a cold room, like in the isolation cells of the institutions, says Javi Constanza, 24, one of those who wrote the article.
Photo: PRIVATE
Javi Costanza, 24 years old.
As of November this year, at least 1,413 separations have been carried out, compared to 817 during 2017. The figures have been produced by Ung inlåst, a project that, with the support of Arvsfonden, works to ensure that the girls and boys of the SiS households know their rights better.
Now the authors of the debate article are demanding measures to reduce the insulation of SiS homes. They were not criminals, but were forcibly cared for for serious mental illness. The isolation made them feel worse. The damage is permanent.
– I find it difficult to be in small rooms and I feel very bad if someone touches me or touches my hands, says Bella, 19 years old.
– Even today, I sometimes sleep on a mattress on the floor of a closet, it has become like a security and is quite ill, says Izabell Naj, who has turned 35.
The lockdown can last a maximum of four hours, but in practice it can last longer if new decisions are made. How common separations are varies greatly between different SiS houses. For example, Klarälvsgården in Värmland last year only had two, while Björkbacken in Gothenburg had 182. Both places have 20 places.
What stands out in the review is that adolescent girls especially are exposed to treatment, twice (339) as many isolates from girls aged 13-15 years, than from boys of the same age group (161). The polemicists believe it is due to ignorance of the staff. Isolation has become an easy way out.
– Girls are better at clearly showing what we feel when we feel bad. But how can anxiety be alleviated with the help of isolation? Bella wonders.
Javi Constanza says that girls in SiS homes do not behave according to the norm of how adolescent girls “should” be. They have lived difficult things, they are rebellious and verbal. If the staff has an authoritarian attitude, an unnecessary struggle arises that can only end badly.
– I used to ask them to let me stay until I calmed down. Instead, they forcibly locked me up and gave me heavy medication. It has damaged my trust in people that those who would help me hurt me.
Izabell Naj was just 13 years old when she ended up in compulsory care at SiS. His experience is that staff sat too long in offices instead of engaging in relationships, so almost all isolations could be avoided.
– They may not have wanted to hurt but it is due to ignorance. There are good staff too, but everyone needs to be better informed about what trauma, past violence, and autism are and how it affects girls.
Photo: PRIVATE
Izabell, better, 35.
Annika Eriksson, SiS director of development, says the increase may have several explanations. Since October 2018, arrests are also recorded as “separation”. They see a higher proportion of girls with mental illness and self-injurious behavior when using the method, in emergency situations.
Are you sure there are always emergencies when a young person is isolated?
– Should be. The guidelines are very clear. But we take increasing segregation very seriously and look at how we can reduce groups, for example. We have been trained in responding to self-injurious behaviors and are planning for more people.
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