Shame and recognition: Social work practice with vulnerable young people

Drawing on the findings from a longitudinal study of vulnerable young people's transitions to adulthood, this paper explores the ideas of shame and recognition. The young people, aged between 12 and 17 years at the first interview, had experienced chronic exposure to adversity from an early age (abuse, violence, mental health issues, addictions, and expulsion from school). They were clients of statutory and non‐governmental services: child welfare, juvenile justice, remedial education, and mental health services. This paper draws on the qualitative phase of the study (n = 107); young people and a trusted other, nominated by the young person, participated in three annual qualitative interviews. Interviews focused on young people's experiences of services, key transitions, their relationships, and the strategies they used to locate support and resources. Experiences of shame, misrecognition, and seeking recognition emerged as dominant themes in the young people's accounts, and these are explored in this paper. The paper concludes with a discussion on responsive social work interventions that generate a deeper understanding of young people's experiences of shame and misrecognition. Central to this practice are critical and relational social work practices that actively support young people to achieve recognition.     

Interpretative phenomenological analysis of young people's lived experiences of therapeutic residential care

Concerns of maltreatment and poor outcomes persist in residential care despite numerous government inquiries and recommendations. Young people in residential care continue to be the most vulnerable and marginalized group in the out‐of‐home care population. Young people's voices are also underrepresented in research. Existing studies predominantly focus on service evaluations in which individual voices of young people are overshadowed by adults' perspectives. Other studies examine the perspectives of young people in out‐of‐home care as a homogenous population, limiting understandings of the subjective experiences of young people in residential care. This study focused exclusively on young people's lived experiences in Australian therapeutic residential care, utilizing interpretative phenomenological analysis. The young people in this study revealed experiences of peer victimization, ambiguous loss and uncertainty during transitions. These findings suggest that more work is required in order to provide safe and healing environments and experiences for young people in therapeutic residential care. Each individual voice captured in this study offers valuable insights into how residential care practitioners can strengthen practice to enhance protection, engagement, connection with families and leaving care support.     

The transition to adulthood from care as a struggle for recognition

This article explores young people's experiences in the transition to adulthood from child welfare services and how Honneth's theory of recognition can be useful as an analytical tool to help us understand these experiences. The underpinning empirical research consisted of interviews and focus groups with 43 adolescents who had been in contact with Norwegian child welfare services. Three themes emerged as particularly important: having good relationships to caring adults, being listened to and able to influence their own lives, and receiving support and encouragement. The research shows how young people's difficulties in leaving care can be understood as experiences of misrecognition and points to some ways in which these can be overcome.     

Investing in the relationship: practitioners’ relationships with looked‐after children and care leavers in Social Work Practices

Providing more consistent and continuous relationships for looked‐after children and care leavers is a current preoccupation in social work in light of many criticisms of the quality of such relationships. Recommendations for more direct work have spurred new models of service delivery in children's services aimed at improving individual outcomes. Independent Social Work Practices (SWPs), a new organizational model piloted in some areas of England between 2009 and 2012, were established to enable social workers and other practitioners to spend more time in direct work and thus to improve the practitioner/child/young person relationship. This paper uses findings from interviews with 169 children and young people across 11 local authorities and 5 SWPs, undertaken as part of a 3‐year national matched control evaluation of pilot SWPs, to identify key elements of good quality practitioner relationships with children or young people. Focusing on children's and young people's perspectives and experiences, the study demonstrates that more direct work and consistent relationships are valued. The paper deploys Recognition Theory to further understanding of effective practice as defined by children and young people.     

Personally affected,politically disaffected? How experiences with public employment services impact young people's political efficacy

Unemployment experiences can have consequences for how people think about democracy and where they stand vis‐à‐vis the state. We investigate how young people's experiences with public employment services can shape levels of external political efficacy—the feeling that decision‐makers are responsive to citizen needs. The personal and direct experiences one gathers at this pivotal time in life can also leave their mark on political attitudes. We analyze an original dataset on German youth to test how encounters with such agencies affect young people's political efficacy, finding that perceptions of helpfulness and being treated fairly and with respect increase the likelihood of being politically efficacious. The findings highlight the importance of personal experiences and bureaucratic interactions for vulnerable young people's democratic attitudes.     

Factors supporting resilience during out-of-home care: Experiences of former child welfare clients in Finland

This study aimed to identify factors supporting young people's resilience during out-of-home care (OOHC) in Finland, despite challenges in their lives. In our qualitative study, we applied a social-ecological framework to understand the experiences and perspectives of young people on what helped them and the help they would have needed during OOHC. The findings indicate (1) individual characteristics and interests (positive attitude, understanding own acts and their consequences and meaningful activities), (2) relationships (good relationships with close ones, ability to meet and keep contact with close ones, good relationships with professionals and relationships between parents and professionals) and (3) institutions (place of OOHC, youth-centered practices, needs-based services and support for the family) all supported the resilience of young people in OOHC. Further, to receive support from a particular medium, such as professionals (relationship level), a young person must already have some self-understanding (individual level) of things. Essentially, youth resilience is supported through all these levels as a process.     

A children's space? Participation in multi‐agency early intervention

The common assessment framework provides a model of early intervention, which is familiar in local authorities throughout England, and asserts a participatory framework of child and family engagement. This article draws on data from a research project undertaken in 1 local authority in the Midlands of England, to explore the experiences of children, young people, and their families, who were engaged in the process of multi‐agency early intervention. The article considers the young people's involvement, including their accounts of attending common assessment framework meetings, and their engagement by practitioners. The research found that young people's participation was limited. The findings suggest that this is, in part, a response to disciplinary discourses around schooling and attendance. In addition, the narratives of parents and young people showed that under‐resourcing of work with young people meant that the time taken to build relationships and engage them in a process of self‐assessment, planning, and decision making was constrained and rationed. The article concludes that to achieve a participatory children's space, an active and more engaged model of childhood needs to be facilitated by practitioners and parents outside the school‐dominated space found in this study.     

Journeys of culturally connecting: Aboriginal young people's experiences of cultural connection in and beyond out-of-home care

With growing overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in out-of-home care (OOHC), cultural disconnection is an omnipresent threat. Despite research and inquiries that have highlighted the risk of cultural disconnection for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children living in OOHC, limited research has explored Indigenous children and young people's experiences of cultural connection in the Australian context. Informed by Indigenous Standpoint Theory, this Aboriginal-led qualitative study sought to understand 10 OOHC-experienced Aboriginal young people's experiences of cultural connection over time, including after exit from OOHC, through retrospective interviews that employed a phenomenological lens. It was found that Aboriginal young people experienced cultural connection as a heterogenous process involving identity formation and the practice of culture, enacted as a choice over time. The complexity of Aboriginal young people's experiences of cultural connection over time gives rise to a new understanding of cultural connection as a journey of culturally connecting, wherein the risk of cultural disconnection is complicated by intergenerational child removals, dominant discourse about what constitutes Aboriginal culture, and removal from an Aboriginal cultural milieu.     

Getting behind the closed door of care leavers: understanding the role of emotional support for young people leaving care

There have been significant changes in the legislative frameworks and guidance that surround social work practice with young people leaving the care system over the recent years. However, care leavers continue to face a range of challenges, achieve poor outcomes and research has consistently highlighted the insufficient attention paid to sources of emotional support. This paper provides empirical data from a small number of care leavers reflecting on their experiences of transitioning to independence. The findings provide further evidence of the lack of attention paid to emotional support by professionals and highlight the impact that this had on the young people's experiences. The young people identify their changing perceptions and needs as their experiences post‐care change, the complex reasons for why they may have rejected offers of support and make key recommendations for practice. This paper provides valuable insight into the process of leaving the care system from the perspective of care leavers themselves and raises key questions that challenge the structure of the current support systems, the nature of the professional relationship with young people in care and the priorities of current policy initiatives.     

Young people's and carers' perspectives on the mental health needs of looked-after adolescents

While the mental health needs of looked‐after young people have been described in a number of clinical studies, the views of looked‐after adolescents themselves concerning their mental health needs have only rarely been reported. This study used focus groups to elicit the ideas and experiences of looked‐after young people in two local authorities in England. Front‐line carers in the region were also surveyed. Young people and carers were agreed in highlighting the damaging effects of the discontinuity and change experienced in the looked‐after system. Young people emphasized the importance of exercising choice and control when seeking and receiving support and identified the value of positive role models provided by ‘survivors’ of the care system. Carers reported high levels of risk behaviour, particularly self‐harm, among young people in children's homes. These differing perspectives need to be openly acknowledged and negotiated within care settings in order that relevant and accessible therapeutic and support services can be offered to looked‐after adolescents.     

Disenfranchised Not ‘Deficient‘: How the (Neoliberal) State Disenfranchises Young People

Young people's declining electoral participation has been considered a problem in a range of democracies, including Australia. In this paper I examine youth electoral participation through the eyes and voices of young marginalised Australians. In the policy arena young people's electoral participation is usually considered a subject for education policy. Here I make the case for considering it as an issue for social policy, and as a welfare issue. In this context I examine the effects of neoliberalism and Australia's shrinking welfare state on young people's citizenship and ability to access the franchise. Whilst acknowledging the liberal roots of neoliberalism I argue that whereas the neoliberal state identifies young people's political disengagement as a problem, and constructs participation using the language of ‘choice‘, that its own social policies act to create barriers to the franchise for young people and thus effectively disenfranchise them.     

Enablers of help‐seeking for deaf and disabled children following abuse and barriers to protection: a qualitative study

Research internationally has highlighted the increased vulnerability of deaf or disabled children to abuse and the frequently inadequate response of services. However, first‐hand accounts of deaf or disabled children have rarely been sought. This paper reports selected findings from one of the first studies exploring experiences of deaf and disabled children regarding help‐seeking following maltreatment. Innovative and sensitive research methods were employed to support 10 deaf or disabled people (children and adults) to take part in guided conversations. The study identifies three enablers of help‐seeking of deaf or disabled children: the capacity of adults to detect abuse and respond to disclosures, supportive relationships or circumstances which facilitate disclosure and for Deaf children, access to registered interpreters. Barriers to protection related to these are also discussed. Recommendations directed at policy makers, practitioners and families include education and awareness raising amongst practitioners, children, parents and carers; addressing isolation of deaf and disabled children; providing comprehensive support services that address the needs of the child holistically; ensuring that the voice of the child is heard; routine access to registered interpreters for Deaf children within mainstream and specialist services and measures to address disablism at local and institutional levels.     

Providing a secure base for LGBTQ young people in foster care: The role of foster carers

The experiences and needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) young people in care have been overlooked in England, in both policy and research. This paper reports on findings from the first study of LGBTQ young people in care in England and focuses on the nature of foster carers' experiences and perspectives on caring for LGBTQ young people. Qualitative interviews regarding the fostering role in caring for LGBTQ young people were conducted with a sample of foster carers (n = 26) and analysed thematically. Foster carers described the importance of offering LGBTQ young people not only the nurturing relationships that all children in care need but also availability, sensitivity and acceptance to help young people manage stigma and other challenges associated with minority sexual orientation and gender identity. The Secure Base caregiving model provided a framework for analysing the different dimensions of these relationships. Understanding caregiving roles and relationships for LGBTQ young people in care has important implications for recruiting, training, matching and supporting foster carers to care for LGBTQ young people effectively.     

Driving outcomes: learning to drive,resilience and young people living in residential care

There are continuing concerns about the experiences offered to older adolescents being looked after (‘in care’) in the UK and, especially, to care leavers. Questions are asked about the limitations of State care compared with normal family life. This paper reports on an initiative to provide driving lessons to a group of six young men living in residential homes in one city. It links with resilience theory – how individuals can have relatively good outcomes despite early adversity. A qualitative study was undertaken to explore the effects of the initiative, including individual interviews with young men, heads of homes in which they lived and children's services managers. The overall results indicated that the initiative was very worthwhile. The lessons were a significant part of young people's lives. Possible effects on young people were divided into personal, instrumental and social. Benefits were reported from all parties concerning young people's self‐esteem and self‐confidence, as well as in forging close relationships with supportive adults. Driving would not be seen as a panacea for complex personal histories and structural problems, yet this small experiment suggests that driving lessons could be of disproportionate benefit and there is a moral obligation to provide them in any case.     

Growing up with parental substance use disorder: The struggle with complex emotions,regulation of contact,and lack of professional support

The aim of the study was to explore young people's perceptions and reflections about growing up with parents who have substance use disorder (SUD). In qualitative interviews with 12 young people (aged 13–26) and in an interpretative phenomenological analysis, we investigated their experiences of everyday life, of the relationships with the parents with SUD, and of conversations about this, both retrospectively and at the present. The findings indicated that the relationships with the parents largely occupied the informants, even when they lived separately from the parent and were protected from the daily exposure of substance use. The informants described their mixed and contradictory emotions towards their parents and the struggle to determine regulation and type of contact. They asked for professional support in order to help them cope with this. Sociocultural discourses concerning family life and substance use were discussed in an attempt to understand the findings. The findings of the study suggest that children and young people should be offered sufficient professional support in order to cope with their mixed and contradictory emotions and to determine the regularity and type of contact with the parents.     

The needs and strengths of unaccompanied asylum‐seeking children and young people in Scotland

Unaccompanied asylum‐seeking children seeking refuge in safer parts of the world have a wide range of needs. This paper discusses the main needs of unaccompanied minors drawing upon the views of service providers who work with or for unaccompanied asylum‐seeking children and young people in Scotland, as well as the perspectives of unaccompanied minors themselves. The complexity of the children's needs is explored with a framework considering their process of resettlement, looking at the present first, the future next and the past last. We also explored the strengths and resilience of the unaccompanied children consulted.     

Hard to reach and easy to ignore: the drinking careers of young people not in education,employment or training

Young people's drinking in the UK remains a matter of medical, social, media and political concern. The notion of transition and drinking styles in the move from childhood to adulthood and from education to employment has been central to understanding young people's drinking behaviour, but little is known about how the drinking patterns of those not in education or employment, both men and women, develop over time. This paper reports on research which aimed to examine the current drinking habits and drinking careers of young people not in education employment and training who are traditionally described as hard to reach. In‐depth qualitative interviews were undertaken with 23 young people: 15 women and 8 men aged between 14 and 23. The findings are presented with respect to three stages of drinking: starting, continuing or increasing, and decreasing or stopping. The conclusions indicate that for the majority of these young people, alcohol is a significant factor in their lives and that peers, gender, time and place combine to structure both their current alcohol use and drinking career. The paper argues that an understanding of young people's drinking career development and current alcohol use will help target effective social work and multi‐agency intervention.     

Family contact in foster care in Portugal. The views of children in foster care and other key actors

This is a pilot study on the sensitive issue of how children and young people experience family contact in foster care, and the views of key adults in their lives on the same issue. There is a special focus on the children's experiences, opinions, and feelings. The study is a response to the relative scarcity of literature on family contact based on the experiences of children and adults in caring roles. This is a qualitative and exploratory study, with a sample of 10 children and young people in care in the district of Porto, aiming to identify key issues and areas for further examination. The results allow us to conclude that the possibility of maintaining contact is positively evaluated. However, perspectives on the relationships involved, and on the reactions to and difficulties associated with visits, revealed considerable disagreement among the actors. A possible set of implications drawn from the findings pointed out to the importance of developing a monitored cooperation that improves communication processes in order to take into account the children's and young people's views in the decision‐making process; and to develop more attentive and open working relationships with parents throughout the foster care placement.     

‘It's so much better than contact’: A qualitative study exploring children and young people's experiences of a sibling camp in the United Kingdom

This article explores children and young people's experiences of a sibling camp based in the United Kingdom. Sibling camps are an intervention based on children's activity holidays that aim to promote meaningful contact for siblings separated in public care. This study adopted a qualitative approach using semi‐structured interviews with 11 children and young people; this included one sibling group of three and four sibling groups of two. The children's ages ranged from 8 to 17 years old, and they had all attended at least one camp with their sibling. Findings highlighted how the children valued the extended time they could spend with their siblings at camp, and how they felt this enabled them to better understand their siblings and improve their relationships. Findings also showed how the children developed close supportive relationships with the staff at the camps, who ensured they were cared for, and they also supported them with managing their relationships, which some participants acknowledged at times could be challenging. The participants also valued spending time with other sibling groups who also experienced separation. The study found camps provided a space for these children to maintain links with their siblings and to strengthen their sibling bonds.     

Young people act as consultants in child‐directed research: an action research study in Iceland

This paper evaluates an action research study, conducted in Iceland, which involved young service users as consultants to the research. We used participatory group work methods to activate the young people's knowledge and guide social workers in developing their practice. The young people's advice influenced the data generation and analysis, guided the action intervention and contributed to the evaluation. Their emphasis on the quality of relationships and attention to children's concerns was crucial in developing the concept of child‐directed practice.