Experiences of turning points for young people in the process of leaving care

Objective: In this study our aim is to investigate what can be identified as “turning points” for a group of young people leaving public care and discuss how the concept of agency can be understood in their narratives.... [ view full abstract ]

Objective: In this study our aim is to investigate what can be identified as “turning points” for a group of young people leaving public care and discuss how the concept of agency can be understood in their narratives.
Context: In the year of 2014, about 29 000 children placed in out of home care in Sweden, a group that is on the increase in the child welfare system. Children and young people placed in public care often come from a disadvantaged background, where they may have experienced abuse, neglect and violence. The actual placement in care implies various transitions, such as moving from parents to foster homes or residential facilities, having to change schools in this process and also leaving behind friends and well known neighborhoods. A considerable number of children and young people placed in public care have also moved between foster homes and residential facilities on several occasions. In this process they are likely to encounter a number of turning points, occasions that have had a substantial impact on their life and changed their life course. Leaving care in Sweden is stipulated by law at the age of 18 (or 21 in cases of mandatory care orders). However, young people often remain in care until they have completed their upper secondary school education, which usually happens when the young person has reached the age of 19.
Method: During 2008 – 2011, we performed a study focusing on young people leaving public care in Sweden. In one part of the study 65 young people between 18 and 26 years old were interviewed by telephone. They had left care within three months to three years. We interviewed 14 young men (22 per cent) and 51 young women (78 per cent). We have in this study chosen accounts where the interviewees describe experiences and events connected to the placement while in care or after leaving care that have had an impact on their life and changed their life-direction in a positive or a negative way.
Results: The narratives of the young care leavers’ reveal important knowledge about their experiences from being in care and leaving care. Altogether, the results suggest that there are both positive and negative turning points connected to the care experience. To develop a trusting relationship to a family member or a significant other, a feeling of being in control of your life and experience an opportunity to change a negative life course are important factors in the young care leaver’s accounts about turning points. These factors were also linked to how they interpreted their care experiences and the impact it had on their self-identity, feeling of agency and well-being.
Conclusion: There are indications that the transition to adulthood could be a positive turning point in itself, since it can enable the young people to leave behind the burdens of an exposed and difficult childhood in favor of an adult life that provides them to make choices and being able to gain agency and have more control and influence over their trajectories in life.
Although it is evident in our result that the transition period from care to adulthood can be an important turning point we cannot say anything about the long-term effects this will have on the young care leaver’s life course.