Meeting the challenge of intervening problematic youth substance use in child welfare residential care in Finland

In this PHD project I examine the phenomenon of problematic youth substance use in the context of child welfare residential care in Finland. As it is known that substance abuse services for this target group are seriously inadequate and drug mortality among young people in Finland is high, my research thus contributes to a highly important and current topic.

This project is an article-based dissertation including both qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods studies. I am especially interested in desistance theories in the context of substance abuse and non-medical interventions to addictions.