Doing well, against what odds, with what inspiration?" How a sample of young adults with care experiences reflect on doing well at school and in life

Elisabeth Backe-Hansen's presentation builds on the first analyses of in-depth interviews with 24 young women and men with experiences of public care, who have done well in relation to educational attainment and/or employment.... [ view full abstract ]

Elisabeth Backe-Hansen's presentation builds on the first analyses of in-depth interviews with 24 young women and men with experiences of public care, who have done well in relation to educational attainment and/or employment. They are the Norwegian part of a three-country longitudinal study, involving Denmark, England and Norway. The participants were aged between 16 and 32 at the time of the first interview. Around four out of ten have some kind of immigrant or refugee background. They had all been in public care for three years or more, with care experiences varying between stable foster care from infancy on, to more than ten different placements in residential and foster care.

Elisabeth Backe-Hansen will focus on two themes, first the young persons' own conceptions and reflections on what doing well means. Here, one important message is the many nuances that emerge when we discuss the meaning of doing well, and how this points to a need for both comprehensive and differentiated services. At the same time, some commonalities between the young men and women as well as their social contexts are evident. The second theme concerns education and the participants' reflections on prerequisites for their educational attainment. The analyses illuminate and qualify existing knowledge about these young adults in important ways, and raises the question of how best to theorize about these young adults’ lives.