The configurations of a therapeutic failure with children of marginalised Roma families: for transcultural approach.

Background: Alin (born in 1993, Timisoara, Rumania) is the elder son of a Roma family
settled for ten years in France, having heavy psychomotor and cognitive deficiencies. Method:
Case study of Alin’s psychotherapeutic trajectory. Findings. Socio-cultural representations of
mental handicaps, intrafamilial relationships and personal history are interactive determinants
of psychological accompaniment and healthcare provision. Mental healthcare team in charge
of Alin misconceived in the relations of care: the central role played by the particular status
family network attributes to the person with mental handicap and the articulation between
diversity, difference and inequality in the family’s experience of mental handicap and its care.
Discussion: In socio-culturally diverse contexts, the quality of relations of care depends on
professionals’ capability to develop socio-culturally sensitive and responsive to beneficiaries’
needs psychotherapeutics. Transcultural approach is not effective unless it is integrated to
conventional psychological practice, and a collaborative work is settled with the concerned
professionals of social work and associative sectors.