Fem unga kvinnors återberättande av sina upplevelser i stödgrupper för barn till föräldrar med missbruk, psykisk ohälsa och/eller våldsproblematik

Sammanfattning: Abstract During this study we interviewed five young women who have faced growing up in homes with problems such as substance abusing parents, parents with psychological illnesses and violence. The purpose of this paper is to study these five young women’s experiences of participating in a support group for children and teenagers. Due to our purpose we asked ourselves three questions 1. How did these young women experience the method of the support program? 2. How did they experience their relationship to the professionals and other children and teenagers within the support group? 3. How has the experiences of being in the support group effected them? To answer these questions we performed qualitative interviews with five young women in the ages between 19-21 years old who has participated in these support groups. Our results show that these young women have had big use of concrete facts about their parents’ illnesses and also appreciated fun and games. The young women also experience the support group as a second home and found a lot of comfort within the group. Results also show that they gained a big amount of trust to the professionals who they found a lot of comfort in. The young women also felt a big amount of fellowship towards the rest of the group mates which minimized their feelings of loneliness and shame. Results also showed that the young women had different ideas of what a normal household looked like before they joined the support groups. Some of them thought that the problems at home were normal while others thought they were all alone with their type of problems. The young women feel that their participation in the support groups has led them to an increased sense of security, bigger confident and has also taught them to set boundaries. Their participation in the support groups has also led them to an increased sense of KASAM and Empowerment.