I’m not doubting your voice will be heard if you speak up. While you would not be the first person to touch on the topic of reforming the use of restraints and seclusion, I think there is definitely a lot to be learned from the vantage point of your experiences, especially by those who are still working in these environments.
I don’t consider a person speaking out for reform of these harmful practices to be somehow tacitly endorsing the less physical tactics used in programs. Quite simply, this segment of the discussion may be a perfect frontline for further opportunities to effect changes in the way staff considers their responsibility to their ethics despite the program atmosphere.
The article you linked in the Tough Hate thread holds within it a perfect example of this call for reform bringing about change in how both staff and management view the situation at hand as well as the environment and most importantly their role in the dynamic of the exchanges between themselves and their charges.
http://www.cwla.org/articles/cv0309restraint.htm That article speaks to something I observed as a kid in and out of these places. While in the RTC environment there were no restraints…ever. This is likely the consequence of the pervasive mind numbing controls in place that don’t require physical contact to instill.
However, while in the crisis intervention centre and the psych settings I observed physical restraints every day. At one location these were so common place that we in the day room would quietly critique the struggle by commentary while it played out. Many of these were punitive rather than preventative actions. In some cases from specific staffers it wasn’t something they resorted to, rather it was something they would tend to instigate or incite. In the cases where kids were clearly exhibiting destructive or harmful behaviors that required some intervention…physical restraint and seclusion were the only methods applied. I cannot recall anytime where I observed a verbal attempt to diffuse a given situation that wasn’t simply a stated threat of what inevitably followed… restraint and seclusion.
This unending cycle of forceful contact was accepted by kids, staff, counselors, nurses and doctors as acceptable. Were there employees in these places who did not agree with this, probably. For anyone to be heard on the topic somebody has to speak up.
How much training is dedicated to holds and take downs and the accompanying paper work requirements versus say something along the lines of love n’ logic?
Here’s what might seem a bit tangential but I think it illustrates my point. At Willow Creek the way Dr. B earned my trust was by his expressing openly his outrage that I had been strip searched five times in one week. I hadn’t thought there would be any point to my objection or anyone to prevail upon to intercede on my behalf. When these searches became known to Dr. B, he followed our session by addressing staff and nurses in such a way that every kid within earshot also got the message. He informed them of what they should have known and we were all happy to learn, that no such searches were permitted without the patient’s Dr. signing off on it, without exception. I was not so much as frisked at that hospital again. I don’t even think my roommates (who had also been being treated this way) were subjected to these intrusions without cause, again. The change from within will occur with the enlightenment of those who are reachable by reason. Yes, there are sadistic bullies out there that have put themselves in these staffing positions simply because it fulfills a need they have to subjugate others, and they won’t be moved by anything other than sanctions for their abuses. Whether it is a newly hired staffer who hasn’t yet wholly bought into the culture of the hostile environment or a longtime staffer who wishes there were a better way, but simply hasn’t been offered the support for alternatives, that is the target audience for reform discussion.
There are those who will hear the message for reforms if it is spoken to them.The possibility of that bettering the situation of a kid who might otherwise have been knocked to the floor, then strapped to a board and carried into an isolation room, is worth the effort.
As for how that vociferousness might impact what change remains to be seen of the thought reform and pseudo-therapeutic abuses…Maybe, when the “extreme” is assessed there will be less of the rationales invoked to defend the privations, intrusions and manipulations which are as intrinsically harmful.
(Edited a homonym typo out of deference to T.A.C.)
