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Uppal, Lakhita (2024) The therapeutic relationship as a mental health intervention for gang-associated young people: understanding how it is conceptualised by them and the community mentors working with them. A critical discourse analysis. Doctoral thesis, London Metropolitan University.
Background: Serious Youth Violence is considered a public health problem in the UK, with those involved experiencing significant mental health problems. Due to accessibility barriers at multiple levels, many of these young people miss opportunities for effective, evidence-based therapeutic intervention. Community-based mentoring, accessible and appropriate to the needs of this population, is considered preferable by young people, and seemingly mirrors the values of a therapeutic relationship found in counselling psychology. However, little research in the process and practice of mentoring specifically targeting mental health outcomes currently exists. Aims: This research asked how gang-associated young people and the mentors working with them understand the concept of a therapeutic relationship, and aimed to understand this in comparison to other therapeutic relationships and in the context of accessibility barriers.
Method: Six semi-structured interviews were conducted with mentors working directly with gang-associated young people, which were interpreted using Critical Discourse Analysis. Findings: Four interpretive repertoires were identified; that the therapeutic relationship in mentoring supports the mental health needs of GAYP, that the accessibility of such relationships needs to be better, that the therapeutic relationship should be kept within those with lived experience, and that it is available to anyone with therapeutic training. The discursive practices within these related to the creation of culture, the capitalisation of masculinity and the politics of belonging as processes within the therapeutic relationship between mentors and GAYP. Limitations of the research, clinical relevance and implications for practice were discussed, with researcher reflexivity woven throughout.
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