A qualitative study on professionals’ perception of unaccompanied minors’ uniqueness and its impact on drug prevention

Abstract: This thesis explores how professionals working with unaccompanied minors (UM) perceive the uniqueness of this group in relation to substance use and prevention. Findings from the study suggest that professionals’ perceptions of UM’s uniqueness could be divided into five themes: financial situation; age; contact persons and authorities; prolonged waits at the migration agency; and access to health care. Drug use among UM was either perceived to be a result of the difficult experiences they have lived through or something that only certain (deviant) youth engage in. How professionals perceived the vulnerability and oppression of UM correlated with the attempts and efforts they made in providing preventative work against drugs. In terms of treatment, it was perceived as UM either got into treatment more easily compared to others, or that they faced various barriers. It is suggested that the additional barriers may be increasingly more evident after the UM’s 18th birthday.