Background and Purpose:
Studies reveal that many care leavers are not successful in dealing with the challenges of independent life after leaving care. In Israel, care leavers are expected to enlist in military service right after leaving care. Military service, although often challenging, is in many ways a moratorium on the quest for independence. Consequently, in the Israeli context, discharge from military service is a period of transition to independent living. The current paper explores the subjective life course perspective of care leavers in Israel and their efforts of coping with the challenges of the transition from military service to independent life. In addition, the study examined the role of internal and external resources as well as previous experiences to understanding transition processes in the life course of this group.
Methods:
As part of a mixed-method study, sixteen narrative interviews were conducted with care leavers. Participants were selected using "purposeful sampling" based on the quantitative research. The sample included eight women and eight men, ages 22-24. Life story interviews were conducted, recorded and fully transcribed. Two kinds of holistic analyses were used: content and structure (Libelich, Tuval-Mashiach & Zilber, 1988). Content analysis included mapping the main theme expressed by interviewees, and structural analyses included, for example, time spent on certain people or issues, omissions, pauses and breaks in narrative.
Findings:
The analysis highlighted the transition from military service as a meaningful and stressful period from the care leavers' perspectives. We identified two distinct groups among care leavers transitioning from the military service to independent life.
1. The "Struggling to Survive" group: Their narratives highlighted their vulnerability and included descriptions of current difficulties in coping with their daily life and their continuous efforts to avoid risky behaviors. Many of their difficulties are associated with the stressful experience of transition from military to civilian life. The presentation will describe the current situation of this group, characterized mainly by an immense lack of social support and, and for some, by lower sense of agency.
2. The "Surviving through Struggle" group: Their narratives highlighted their resilience while describing positive situations today in various life domains. These achievements are results of constant efforts to overcome obstacles they face, including in their military service. This group is characterized by strong agency and ability to adapt to unwanted changes. All had multiple sources of support, which are mainly a result of developing and holding on to social networks.
Conclusion and Implications:
The analysis highlighted that resilience in the life course of care leavers can be achieved by protective factors. While transitions are challenging for all care leavers, some of them have the combination of internal and external resources that is especially vital in periods of transition.
The implications for social services include the necessity to support care leavers in normative transitions by strengthening the support network of adolescents in and after care, exposing them to formal and informal support networks and taking an active duty in connecting them with social organizations while they are still in the moratorium of military service. It is also necessary to enhance their coping strategies and their sense of agency during and after care (e.g., by empowering youth to identify their strengths and interests).
