Search results for ‘Subject term:"looked after children"’ Sort:
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Social images of residential care: how children, youth and residential care institutions are portrayed?
- Authors:
- CALHEIROS Maria Manuela, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 55, 2015, pp.159-169.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
This study examines the social images associated with children and youth in residential care and the respective care institutions in Portugal. The sample of 176 participants was comprised of individuals with and without professional contact with children and youth in residential care. Participants responded to an open-ended questionnaire requesting attributes and characteristics of children and youth living in residential care as well as attributes associated with residential care institutions. The data collected were analysed through Discriminant Analyses, Z Tests and Multiple Correspondence Analyses. Results show that children and youth are primarily described with negative attributes (e.g., sad, rebellious, deprived, lonely) while residential care institutions are mainly described with positive attributes (e.g., cosy, secure, affectionate, comfortable). Results also show that the social images of children and youth in care and the respective care institutions are heterogeneous and present different profiles. The implications of these results for practice are then discussed, namely the importance of raising awareness about existing biased social images and how to deconstruct them. (Edited publisher abstract)
From attachment to recognition for children in care
- Authors:
- SMITH Mark, CAMERON Claire, REIMER Daniela
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 47(6), 2017, pp.1606-1623.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Attachment theory has, over the last half-century, offered important insights into the nature of early experience and into human relationships more generally. These lessons have been influential in improving child-care attitudes and provision. While acknowledging such advances, the authors' argument in this article is that the dominance accorded attachment theory in policy and professional discourse has reached a point where understandings of human relationships have become totalised within an attachment paradigm; it has become the ‘master theory’ to which other ways of conceiving of childcare and of relationships more generally become subordinated. Yet, many of the assumptions underlying attachment theory, and the claims made for it, are contestable. The authors trace the growing prominence of attachment theory in childcare, proceeding to critique the provenance of many claims made for it and the implications of these for practice. At the heart of the critique is a concern that an overreliance on attachment contributes to the biologisation of how children are bought to the detriment of socio-cultural perspectives. The authors go on to offer one suggestive alternative way through which child-care relationships, drawing on Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition, may be conceived. (Edited publisher abstract)
The education of children in care: agency and resilience
- Author:
- BERRIDGE David
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 77, 2017, pp.86-93.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
This paper considers the educational experiences and progress of children in care in England. As part of a mixed methods study 26 young people, together with their carers, social workers and teachers, were asked about their educational experiences and the contributory factors to educational progress during secondary schooling. Responses from young people revealed that they were exercising control over their educational experiences – an expression of agency. They chose to engage with learning once they felt the problems in their lives were being managed and, therefore, that certain preconditions were being met. Analysis of this qualitative data was set within a theoretical framework linking the Sociology of Childhood with the Social Ecology of Resilience. Four groups of young people were identified who demonstrated different responses: ‘Stressed/unresolved’; ‘Committee/trusted support’; ‘Private/self-reliant’; and ‘Disengaged’. The implications are discussed for social workers and schools in working with young people to improve their educational progress and attainment. (Publisher abstract)
Bullying in adolescent residential care: the influence of the physical and social residential care environment
- Author:
- SEKOL Ivana
- Journal article citation:
- Child and Youth Care Forum, 45(3), 2016, pp.409-431.
- Publisher:
- Springer
Background: To date, no study examined possible contributions of environmental factors to bullying and victimisation in adolescent residential care facilities. Objective: By testing one part of the Multifactor Model of Bullying in Secure Setting (MMBSS; Ireland in Int J Adolesc Med Health 24(1):63–68, 2012), this research examined the way the physical and social residential environment relates to bullying and victimisation in adolescent residential care. Method: Young people aged 11–21 (N = 272) from ten residential institutions in Croatia completed: (a) an anonymous self-reported bullying questionnaire; (b) the social residential environment questionnaire; and (c) the physical residential environment questionnaire. Results: The results demonstrated that both bullies and victims reported having significantly lower levels of perceived peer support than other residents. Male bullies also reported significantly lower levels of their overall wellbeing within their facilities and were significantly more likely than non-bullies to perceive their facilities as having problems with cleanliness and food. Male victims were significantly younger than non-victims. Female victims reported lower levels of their overall wellbeing than non-victims as well as poorer relationship with staff. Conclusion: The results are discussed with reference to the relevant prison and school-based bullying literature and directions for future research are provided. Overall, the findings of this study are consistent with the part of the MMBSS (Ireland 2012) examined and provide initial support for the notion that the special nature of the physical and social residential environment may be important in explaining bullying in care. (Edited publisher abstract)
The career aspirations and action behaviours of Australian adolescents in out-of-home-care
- Authors:
- CREED Peter, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 33(9), September 2011, pp.1720-1729.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Two hundred and two adolescents who were in out-of-home care were surveyed, and compared with 202 adolescents not in care (matched for age, gender and school achievement) on career-related aspirations (occupational aspirations, educational aspirations, life barriers) and career action behaviours (career exploration, career planning). The out-of-home care adolescents reported lower occupational aspirations, less career planning, more career barriers, lower educational aspirations for themselves, lower parental aspirations, and more school engagement. Further, career exploration was lower for out-of-home care children who had higher aspirations, lower self-efficacy, parents who communicated higher aspirations, and low aspiring friends. Results are discussed in the context of providing career development and supports for out-of-home care adolescents so that their career aspirations and behaviours can mirror more normative levels.
Constructing resilience: social workers’ understandings and practice
- Authors:
- MCMURRAY Isabella, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Health and Social Care in the Community, 16(3), May 2008, pp.299-309.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Concepts and constructions of resilience have assumed a significant position in contributing to understandings of the psychosocial development of children and young people. This paper examines how concepts of resilience are constructed within the literature, and then explores social workers’ perceptions and use of resilience with young people who were ‘looked after’ or at risk of becoming ‘looked after’. It addresses the interface between social workers’ views and understandings of the emotional health needs of their clients, and the responsiveness of accompanying service interventions. Using the Framework for Assessment as a platform for discussion, 32 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 social workers relating to a purposive sample of 52 children and young people (31 boys and 21 girls). Social workers experienced difficulty in conceptualizing resilience, often providing cursory, general or non-expert explanations. Furthermore, social workers described all children and young people within the sample as being resilient, drawing only upon face-value observations to evidence this. Related to this was the low frequency of social workers’ reports of children and young people's mental health difficulties and the concomitant low referral rate to secondary tier services. The authors argue that social workers’ optimistic perceptions of the resilience of children and young people within this sample, alongside their positive appraisal of their emotional needs, impact on the interventions that are put in place. The paper concludes that the tendency of social workers to project optimism onto their client base calls our attention to a possible transference of the collective need for the social work department itself to be resilient within that local authority.
What do children think
- Author:
- BALDRY Sally
- Journal article citation:
- Child Care Forum, 28, September 1997, p.6.
The authors report on the views of looked after children which were collected through a detailed questionnaire about being looked after by one London Authority.
En menneskelig opvaekst - at arbejde med anbringelser af born (A human upbringing - work with the placement of children)
- Author:
- KILDEDAL Karin
- Journal article citation:
- Nordisk Sosialt Arbeid, 17(2), 1997, pp.96-102.
- Publisher:
- Universitetsforlaget AS
This article reports the results of a qualitative study about how it feels to spend all or part of one's childhood in an institution or in family care. Twenty adults were interviewed about good or bad experiences during their placement.
Children in care findings from The Big Ask
- Author:
- CHILDREN'S COMMISSIONER FOR ENGLAND
- Publisher:
- Children's Commissioner for England
- Publication year:
- 2021
- Pagination:
- 19
- Place of publication:
- London
This report provides additional detail and analysis to the findings from The Big Ask: a national consultation exercise with children in England. The consultation asked them about their lives and their priorities, aspirations and worries for the future. The survey was shared with a wide range of organisations working with or supporting children in care, including children’s homes, fostering organisations and Children in Care Councils. In The Big Ask we received 5,936 responses from children in care (aged 6-17), including more than 3,800 children in foster care and nearly 2,000 children in residential care. The majority of them were aged 6 to 15 (86%), or living with foster parents (64%); the gender split was skewed slightly towards boys. Sections 1 and 2 of this report give further findings from the analysis of the quantitative data on children in care, while Section 3 contains qualitative analysis of the responses from children in care and care leavers to the free-text questions. The majority of children in care aged 9-17 (63%) said they are happy with their lives overall, yet sadly we found that children in care are significantly more likely to be unhappy with their lives than other children. Children in care worry more about personal relationships and material circumstances than other children, who are more likely to be concerned about the wider world. The largest difference in the responses between children in care and others was in relation to having good mental health: 40% of children in care said this was one of their main future priorities, compared with 52% of other children. (Edited publisher abstract)
Independent reviewing officers’ and social workers’ perceptions of children’s participation in children in care reviews
- Authors:
- DIAZ Clive, PERT Hayley, THOMAS Nigel Patrick
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Children's Services, 14(3), 2019, pp.162-173.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: The research reported here forms part of a study of children’s participation in children in care reviews and decision making in one local authority in England. The purpose of this paper is to outline the views of 11 social workers and 8 Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs) and explores their perceptions of children’s participation in reviews. The paper considers the barriers to young people participating meaningfully in decision making and how practice could be improved in this vital area so that children’s voices are more clearly heard and when possible acted upon by professionals. Design/methodology/approach: The data reported here derive from a qualitative cross-sectional study in one English local authority. The entire study involved interviewing children in care, IROs, social workers and senior managers about young people’s participation in their reviews. Findings from the interviews with young people and senior managers have been reported elsewhere (Diaz and Aylward, 2018; Diaz et al., 2018); this paper focuses on the interviews with social workers and IROs. Specifically, the authors were interested in gaining insight into their views about the following research questions: To what degree do children and young people meaningfully participate in reviews? What are the barriers to participation? What can be done to improve children and young people’s participation in reviews? Findings: During this process seven themes were identified, five of which concerned barriers to effective participation and two which concerned factors that appeared to support effective participation. These are summarised below and explained further in the following sections. Barriers to effective participation: social workers and IROs’ high caseloads and ensuing time pressures; high turnover of social workers and inexperienced staff; lack of understanding and training of professionals in participation; children and young people’s negative experiences of reviews and consequent reticence in taking part; and structure and process of the review not being child-centred. Factors which assist participation: quality of the relationship between the child and professionals; and the child or young person chairing their own review meeting. Research limitations/implications: Although these findings reflect practice in one local authority, their consistency with other research in this area suggests that they are applicable more widely. Practical implications: The practice of children chairing their own reviews was pioneered by The Children’s Society in North West England in the 1990s (Welsby, 1996), and has more recently been implemented with some success by IROs in Gloucestershire (see Thomas, 2015, p. 47). A key recommendation from this study would be for research to explore how this practice could be developed and embedded more widely. Previous research has noted the tension between the review being viewed as an administrative process and as a vehicle of participation (Pert et al., 2014). This study highlighted practitioner reservations about young people chairing their own reviews, but it also gave examples of how this had been done successfully and how it could improve children’s participation in decision making. At the very least, it is essential that young people play a role in deciding where the review is going to take place, when it will take place, who is going to be invited and what will be included on the agenda. Social implications: The paper highlights that in this Local Authority caseloads for social workers were very high and this, combined with a high turnover of staff and an inexperienced workforce, meant that children in care struggled to have a consistent social worker. This often meant that young people were not able to build up a positive working relationship with their social worker, which negatively impacted on their ability to play a meaningful role in decision making. Originality/value: There have been very few recent studies that have considered professionals’ perspectives of children’s participation in key meetings and decision making, so that this provides a timely and worthwhile contribution to this important area of work. (Edited publisher abstract)