IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/palcom/v12y2025i1d10.1057_s41599-025-05703-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Overcoming barriers: a grounded theory of the experience of professionals working with justice-involved adolescents who use substances

Author

Listed:
  • Isabel M. Herrera-Sánchez

    (University of Seville)

  • Samuel Rueda-Méndez

    (University of Seville)

  • Violeta Luque-Ribelles

    (University of Cádiz)

Abstract

Adolescents involved in the juvenile justice system are particularly vulnerable to the effects of psychoactive substance use. Various studies have explored interventions from the perspective of professionals who seek strategies to meet their specific needs. This study aims to develop a substantive theory based on the experiences of professionals working in outpatient treatment centres, using a convenience sample of 20 interdisciplinary professionals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed according to Grounded Theory, identifying a basic social psychological process termed ‘overcoming barriers’, which includes four categories: reflectivity, identifying emotions, influence, and redefining results. Additionally, a basic social structural process was identified, consisting of six categories: succession, normalization, diversification, interrelation, openness, and adaptation. Three stages were established to describe the sequence in which these processes progress. The discussion focuses on analysing substance use from an ecological perspective, considering the diversity of profiles of justice-involved adolescents and best practices in professional decision-making.

Suggested Citation

  • Isabel M. Herrera-Sánchez & Samuel Rueda-Méndez & Violeta Luque-Ribelles, 2025. "Overcoming barriers: a grounded theory of the experience of professionals working with justice-involved adolescents who use substances," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:12:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-025-05703-0
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-05703-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-025-05703-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41599-025-05703-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:12:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-025-05703-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.nature.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.