I have now completed five days of work, and I really don’t know what to think. The first two days were very slow, and I watched TV with the girls for most of the day. Up until yesterday I spent most of my time trying to be in the same rooms as the girls just to be a presence, and to talk to them as much as possible. The girls are mostly around 17-18 years old, so it will definitely take time  to gain their trust and to move toward more meaningful conversations. Yesterday the higher level girls (based on a point system which evaluates their behavior) went to an amusement park, leaving behind about half of the residents. I went with one of them to a photo class, which is based on but is not officially art therapy, and we walked around the neighborhood taking pictures and the teacher bought us ice cream. I supervised a few smoke breaks with some other girls on the roof, which is nice because its outside and one-on-one time.
By the end of the day there was a tension building on the floor because three of the residents are going to be checked into substance abuse rehab this week. Everything came to a head when they wanted to leave around 9:30, and house curfue is 10pm. In addition to it being near curfue, there was a fight going on between the residents on the floor right below us and we didn’t want our girls getting involved. When we told the girls they need to stay in, three of them tried to leave anyway. Two got out and one was stopped in the lobby. When she wasn’t able to leave she began trashing the lobby, screaming, and hitting the walls windows and doors. Extra staff were called down, and eventually the police were called as well. Several of her friends tried to come down to either help her calm down or add to the ruckus, and one of our staff took a full-force punch to her chest. The girl was taken to a psych ward after her behavior deescalated.
This was only one of the incidents that happened yesterday. There were several fights on the floors below me, and my roommate/fellow volunteer even had jello and a chair thrown at her. I don’t dread going into work like my roommates do because these situations are much less common on my floor, but I’m still not sure how I feel about my job. Lets hope today goes well!