Need and Implementation of Social Rehabilitation for Vulnerable Young People (HANSKU)

A joint study by the A-Clinic Foundation, the Finnish Youth Research Society, and the Rehabilitation Foundation examines social rehabilitation from the perspective of vulnerable young people in need of special support. Vulnerability can be caused by a range of psychosocial or learning difficulties, substance use, difficult life situations or multiple needs for support.

A-Clinic Foundation coordinates the study and aims to strengthen the co-operation of public and third sector services in the field of substance use, mental health and criminal sanctions providing support for vulnerable young people. Single and group interviews of professionals, as well as workshops with researchers, professionals and young people, will be used to develop the processes of social rehabilitation for young adults.

The Rehabilitation Foundation (RF) is undertaking a scoping review of social rehabilitation for young people. Furthermore, RF studies the life courses and turning points of young offenders, using both register-based data and qualitative data. The objective of these studies is to gain a more profound understanding of the needs and processes of social rehabilitation when working with vulnerable young people.

The Finnish Youth Research Society aims to highlight young people’s own views and experiences and the potential of social rehabilitation to support the life situation of vulnerable young people. Participant observation and new methods, such as photography and analysis of chat conversations, are used to explore the views of vulnerable and hard-to-reach young people.

The research consortium aims to provide new, more comprehensive information to support the development and implementation of policy-making and social rehabilitation. The research is conducted in co-operation with wellbeing services counties and NGO´s.

News

Thank you to all the partners and the young people who participated in the interviews! We reached a total of 21 young people between March and August 2025. Preliminary results have been presented at the Youth Research Days, the Social Policy Days and to young people in social rehabilitation, among others. In addition, the photos taken by the young people were presented in the form of a poster and a photo exhibition at the Youth Research Days in Tampere in November 2025. One Master’s thesis and article are published so far, more to come in 2026!