Perspective
| Perspective is seeing things from rangatahi points of view and understanding the reasons behind their behaviours and decisions. Rangatahi are the most important people in the intervention. To be effective, we need to learn about their views and experiences, as well as the important people in their lives. Perspective is also about using best practice knowledge to guide our mahi.
Thanks to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for funding the research that created these resources (MAUX2006). This work by J. Sanders, R. Munford, J. Webster, J. Mercier, D. Abbott & L. Liebenberg is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 |
Kaimahi who use perspective:
To explore this element in more depth, go to the PARTH in practice reflection sheet |
"Perspective" orientated rangatahi voices
Davita's voice
Davita reflects on his reasons for his behaviour.
Destiny's voice
Destiny describes her relationship.
Zak's voice
Zak recalls tutors who understood him.
Rana's voice
Rana talks about feeling safe.
Jase shares his observations of a professional meeting and the notion of keeping rangatahi at the centre.
What does it mean to keep rangatahi at the centre of practice? I am a youth worker at a youth agency. A rangatahi I was supporting had been invited to meetings at the mental health service so we could talk with him about his wishes and goals and his experience of services and how they helped him with his challenges. The staff said they wanted him to be the focus, but I didn’t think they kept him at the centre of their practice because they mostly talked with each other and talked over him.
When he said things, it seemed they were judging him. One person even told him he was being unrealistic. I realised that if we were going to keep him at the centre after the meeting, I needed to challenge them about giving him a voice and listening to him. I also needed to prepare him, so he didn’t become overwhelmed by all the professionals either talking at him, judging him or talking amongst themselves and ignoring him. I also needed to remind them that they needed to talk directly to him, explain jargon and provide clear information, check with him regularly and honestly answer his questions.
Christine's example highlights the importance of understanding the logic of rangatahi behaviours.
Josie was arrested for stealing from a supermarket.
She explained that she had stolen sanitary products because her family had not provided these things.
Josie’s experiences of not having her material resource needs met by her family collided with the system that did not recognise the limited alternatives available to her.
Accordingly, the system defined stealing as an indicator of delinquency rather than the best choice she could make in her circumstances.
Our mahi is more effective when we understand the internal logic of rangatahi behaviours that on the outside may appear maladaptive.
Perspective indicators
You know you are using Perspective when you:
- Stop and think about what is going on for the rangatahi and adapt based on this.
- Know the story and experiences of the rangatahi and can tell their story rather than judge their behaviours.
- Have tentative explanations for rangatahi behaviours that fit with their experiences.
- Talk about the strengths and skills of rangatahi. Don’t use negative language to describe rangatahi.
- Know how the rangatahi has been, what they’re up to and what their plans are.
- Engage with the whānau and hear their story and ideas too.
- Ask open ended questions with the rangatahi and with other professionals and in hui,
- for example in FGCs.
- Keep thinking about and finding out about the why.
- Use coaching and supervision to help understand the background and experiences of rangatahi.
Perspective reflection cards
Starter resources
