Elien Neimeijer

23 Stams and Van der Laan, 2011). To create a therapeutic group climate sociotherapists should be responsive to fulfill basic psychological needs of the clients, such as the need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness (Ryan & Deci, 2017). A distinction can be made between an open and a closed group climate. An open group climate is characterised by safety, mutual respect between clients and sociothera- pists, structure in the day program, prospects for growth and support to clients. Support provided by sociotherapists, which builds on meaningful relationships and responsivity to the needs of each individual client, sets the groundwork for successful rehabilitation (Andrews & Bonta, 2010). An open group climate has been shown to be associated with active coping, improved social information processing, empathy, prosocial behaviour, motivation for treatment, a longer period of treatment (no drop out) and higher levels of internal locus of control in participants (Lipsey, 2009; Stams & Van der Helm, 2017; Van der Helm, Beunk, Stams, & Van der Laan, 2014; Van der Helm et al., 2013). An open group climate is also associated with lower levels of aggressive and destructive behaviour of clients in secure care (De Decker et al., 2018; Ros, Van der Helm, Wissink, Schaftenaar, & Stams, 2013). A closed (i.e. repressive) group climate, by contrast, is characterised by unfulfilled basic psychological needs as a result of rivalry, aggression and insecurity among soci- otherapists and clients and among clients on the group. In such a climate sociothera- pists are inclined towards restricting clients’ autonomy, and excessive control instead of support, connectedness and flexibility toward clients. Furthermore, a closed group climate is characterised by a lack of responsivity by sociotherapists, insufficient pros- pects for growth, an oppressive atmosphere in the group, and aggression among clients and among clients and sociotherapists (Harvey, 2007). Also, a closed group climate has negative consequences for the safety of both sociotherapists and clients (Van der Helm, Boekee, Stams, & Van der Laan, 2011). Van der Helm, Stams, and Van der Laan (2011) provided an overview of climate research and found the same dimensions in a range of instruments measuring group cli- mate, namely ‘support’, ‘growth’, ‘atmosphere’, and ‘repression’. These dimensions overlap with the basic psychological needs of clients (i.e., connectedness, autonomy and compe- tence) from the perspective of the self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2017). The dimension of ‘support’ represents the degree of sociotherapists’ responsivity and support to clients. The clients’ perception of support is based on connectedness: that is the pos- itive relationship between client and sociotherapists, whereas responsivity concerns the