15 years old and drinking
Cannabis, alcohol and party drugs are part of the youth scene. Most young people can handle their consumption, but for a minority things go wrong, and their use becomes abuse. For the past two years and with support from the Egmont Foundation, Susanne Pihl Hansen and her colleague Peter Jensen have helped young people in care deal with their misuse problems.
It’s Friday afternoon in Copenhagen. A constant stream of normal young people from all over the city crisscrosses the square in front of the metro station. They are on their way to the local cannabis market, which runs a brisk trade in stimulants every Friday and Saturday. When the string of weekend bashes ends, a small group of young people keep on partying. They have become substance misusers – they smoke too much pot, take too many pills or drink too much alcohol.
Susanne Pihl Hansen has followed their trail and gained detailed information about the misuse problems of this group of young people. An outreach street worker for several years, she has also worked in various institutions. A look behind their facades exposes a world of young people who have problems with misuse, crime and prostitution.
Experience with young people at risk and ten years of consultant work have qualified Susanne Pihl Hansen to head up a project financed by the Egmont Foundation and other sponsors. For two years, she has worked with another consultant, Peter Jensen, to equip residential institutions to handle the drug and alcohol misuse problems of their young inhabitants.
The Egmont Foundation granted DKK 1.2 million to the Døgnanbragte Unge og Rusmidler project to help young people in care to deal with drugs and alcohol. Staff from six residential institutions and social education centers took part in the project. They attended workshops, lectures and personal sessions, which gave them information about and methods for helping young people in care to tackle drug- and alcohol-related issues.
Help or expulsion
The idea of tackling the substance use of young people in care arose when Peter Jensen and Susanne Pihl Hansen realized that institutions for youths in care either turn a blind eye to the young residents’ problems, expel them or choose solutions that are unsustainable in the long run. The project therefore focused on providing institution staff with tools and methods to help them deal with youth substance misuse.
“It’s a difficult area. As a youth care facility, we have been given responsibility for helping young people get on with their lives in a situation where their parents were powerless to help. Cannabis is banned in Denmark. Does that make it OK for a residential institution in the public sector to help a young person cut back from 10 grams of pot a day to one, or should we insist on telling them it is illegal? We have no cutand- dry answers – but our project has given the institutions means to handle this type of problem,” Susanne Pihl Hansen explains.
“Stimulants are often only a symptom of another problem. But they can be so dominant as to eclipse all else. This is why care facilities must learn to tackle the substance misuse problems of their young residents. It is no good throwing the youngsters out or sanctioning their way out of the dilemma.”
Young people accept support from adults
“My background includes experience with young people – and the desire to make a difference before it is too late for them. I quite simply cannot help myself from getting
involved,” admits Susanne Pihl Hansen.
“Young people in care are one of society’s most vulnerable groups – they have some heavy baggage. These young people are still developing and it’s certainly not too late to influence them. But if the residential institution fails to provide the right sort of help and support, as well as tools to cope with drugs and alcohol – issues that can easily get out of hand and overshadow other problems – things can go terribly wrong. We need to find methods for stopping harmful stimulant consumption,” she
declares.
The project’s main aim was to enlighten participants about the issues at stake. Secondly, it gave care institutions a range of tools for better dealing with substance use among young people. “Drugs and alcohol are available even in the tiniest town. Young people can get hold of pot right around the corner, and the same probably goes for many other substances – they have easy access to alcohol. This means young people need tools to deal with drugs and alcohol, also when they’re not actually at the residential institutions,” explains Susanne Pihl Hansen.
“Through our project, I believe we’ve planted a seed that will change and shape the way residential institutions handle substance use among young people. And our project participants have also become our local ambassadors who can now pass on the methods and know-how – and eventually help to halt substance misuse among young people."
January 2009
Susanne Pihl Hansen has followed their trail and gained detailed information about the misuse problems of this group of young people. An outreach street worker for several years, she has also worked in various institutions. A look behind their facades exposes a world of young people who have problems with misuse, crime and prostitution.
Experience with young people at risk and ten years of consultant work have qualified Susanne Pihl Hansen to head up a project financed by the Egmont Foundation and other sponsors. For two years, she has worked with another consultant, Peter Jensen, to equip residential institutions to handle the drug and alcohol misuse problems of their young inhabitants.
The Egmont Foundation granted DKK 1.2 million to the Døgnanbragte Unge og Rusmidler project to help young people in care to deal with drugs and alcohol. Staff from six residential institutions and social education centers took part in the project. They attended workshops, lectures and personal sessions, which gave them information about and methods for helping young people in care to tackle drug- and alcohol-related issues.
Help or expulsion
The idea of tackling the substance use of young people in care arose when Peter Jensen and Susanne Pihl Hansen realized that institutions for youths in care either turn a blind eye to the young residents’ problems, expel them or choose solutions that are unsustainable in the long run. The project therefore focused on providing institution staff with tools and methods to help them deal with youth substance misuse.
“It’s a difficult area. As a youth care facility, we have been given responsibility for helping young people get on with their lives in a situation where their parents were powerless to help. Cannabis is banned in Denmark. Does that make it OK for a residential institution in the public sector to help a young person cut back from 10 grams of pot a day to one, or should we insist on telling them it is illegal? We have no cutand- dry answers – but our project has given the institutions means to handle this type of problem,” Susanne Pihl Hansen explains.
“Stimulants are often only a symptom of another problem. But they can be so dominant as to eclipse all else. This is why care facilities must learn to tackle the substance misuse problems of their young residents. It is no good throwing the youngsters out or sanctioning their way out of the dilemma.”
Young people accept support from adults
“My background includes experience with young people – and the desire to make a difference before it is too late for them. I quite simply cannot help myself from getting
involved,” admits Susanne Pihl Hansen.
“Young people in care are one of society’s most vulnerable groups – they have some heavy baggage. These young people are still developing and it’s certainly not too late to influence them. But if the residential institution fails to provide the right sort of help and support, as well as tools to cope with drugs and alcohol – issues that can easily get out of hand and overshadow other problems – things can go terribly wrong. We need to find methods for stopping harmful stimulant consumption,” she
declares.
The project’s main aim was to enlighten participants about the issues at stake. Secondly, it gave care institutions a range of tools for better dealing with substance use among young people. “Drugs and alcohol are available even in the tiniest town. Young people can get hold of pot right around the corner, and the same probably goes for many other substances – they have easy access to alcohol. This means young people need tools to deal with drugs and alcohol, also when they’re not actually at the residential institutions,” explains Susanne Pihl Hansen.
“Through our project, I believe we’ve planted a seed that will change and shape the way residential institutions handle substance use among young people. And our project participants have also become our local ambassadors who can now pass on the methods and know-how – and eventually help to halt substance misuse among young people."
January 2009
