מדיה ובני נוער בסיכון: "הֵי! קראתי את הפוסט שלך": קשר מקוון ברשתות חברתיות בין נוער בסיכון לאנשי סגל טיפולי

In this study, we examine whether and how youth care workers in Israel utilize social media for the purposes of outreach, emotional support, and therapeutic interventions for at-risk youth, while referring to the advantages and challenges of online communication. Interviews with counselors, social workers, and clinical psychologists who work with youth at risk, reveal positive perceptions towards these channels and report on therapeutic successes achieved through social networks and messaging apps. The analysis of the interviews reveals that online communication improves the possibilities of the care workers in three key areas: Reaching out and maintaining reciprocal and meaningful therapeutic relationships with youth at-risk over time; (2) Identifying risks and emotional distress; and(3) “stepping in” and providing psychosocial assistance, when needed. These beneficial practices are made possible through the high accessibility and the sense of secured mediation that characterize social media communication and that complement the psychosocial needs of youth at risk. Alongside these advantages, the analysis yielded several challenges in social media therapeutic relationships, questions of privacy, authority and boundaries.