Elien Neimeijer

132 sociotherapists should be included in measures designed to monitor group climate in secure (forensic) settings, otherwise these questionnaires may not obtain a balanced and representative view of group climate. In this dissertation only clients completed the GCI and were interviewed about the group climate. It is recommended to examine the perspectives of sociotherapists with regard to group climate in future research. A final issue worthy of mention is that in a large organisation such as Trajectum, group climate and work climate measures will inevitably involve collecting data from a subsample of the larger population. Several staff-related and organisation-related obstacles, such as high staff turnover, lack of motivation or even resistance for partici- pating in this research, were met in daily practice that may have influenced the response rate. Therefore, bias caused by selective non-response during the research period cannot be ruled out. How large this subsample should be to obtain a reliable and representative picture of group climate and work climate is unknown in scientific research (Tonkin, 2015). Within this research a 30% response rate per living group was used, a rate which is quite arbitrary. In our studies we did not gather information about reasons for non-­ response. It is therefore not possible to learn from possible gaps and shortcomings in the way in which this research was organised. Follow-up Lauren Now six years after admission, Lauren stays on a living group with a lower security level and care intensity. In the past years, her treatment has focused on teaching her more healthier coping skills in case of increased tension, dealing with trauma and shaping a therapeutic group climate from which she experiences sufficient support to discuss her tensions and regulate them together with her sociotherapists. Although there is a clear growth in the functioning and development of Lauren, it is necessary that long-term investment is made in Lauren’s personality and identity develop- ment. She experiences more relaxation and well-being and from there also shows behaviour from higher developmental phases. However, Lauren’s functioning proceeds in waves. There are still periods when she harms herself, shows aggressive behaviour, uses soft drugs, and feels that she no longer has a grip on herself. In these moments, she distrusts herself and is afraid that she will completely revert to her ‘old behaviour’ and will hurt herself and others.