The hidden curriculum of youth care interventions—A case study

Themes such as “effectiveness” and “evidence-based practice” currently dominate debates about the professional care of children and youth. Notwithstanding the importance of these themes, this rather narrow focus may leave the values and ideals underlying youth care interventions undiscussed. In this article we will present our case study of EQUIP as an example of the role of this “hidden curriculum” in youth care interventions. Qualitative research has been conducted, consisting of content analysis of documents, interviews and observations. For the analysis an existing theory on the content and structure of values is used (Schwartz, 1992). The results show that there are distinct differences in the way moral behavior is defined in a Dutch and American “version” of EQUIP. The results also suggest that a difference in value perspective might be related to the effectiveness of the program.

► Values play an important role in youth care interventions.
► Discrepancies in values may influence the program-integrity of interventions.
► Differences in values may result from personal or cultural value-differences.