Ingesta energética (IE)

Introduction

The study set out to understand young people’s experiences as they negotiated their way through the education system as a looked after child. This chapter, drawing primarily on data from the first year o f the study, seeks to offer insights into a number of factors that might help mitigate the difficult circumstances in which young people find themselves. The data were analysed using a grounded theory approach (Glaser and Strauss 1967) through open coding whereby issues were categorised and emerging patterns were ordered into themes. The analysis highlights those areas in which the views of the young people converge and where they are different.

In this chapter, shared issues, features and similarities across the social world of respondents will be presented whilst ensuring that assumptions are not made of them as an homogenous group ‘as such an approach fails to identify the areas where problems are shared and those where there are important differences’ (Brodie 2001: 164). This chapter will be divided into two sections, looking first at the shared issues and then moving on to explore key differences. In. both sections the findings draw on the voices of the young people and the views of relevant professionals and carers. Shared views converged around a number of areas including: active participation for young people and the importance of ‘developing a notion of competence, consultation and children’s voice’ (Wyness 2006:106). This conceptualisation o f children as active determining subjects thereafter connects with accounts of how young people make sense of their past and the impact of separation and loss. This will be discussed in the light of the need to reconcile past experiences and the implications of this for confidence, self-esteem and resilience. Aspects of stability and instability will be highlighted through the voices o f the young people; a range of uncertainties will be described that contribute to their concerns about the future but notably this did not include a negative attitude towards school. The section will conclude with young people’s perspectives on the importance of ongoing family relationships, in particular their contact with siblings.

The second section will examine areas where there was a divergence in views, for example around the support young people received for their education as well as comments from other key individuals including foster carers, residential workers and teachers. There will be comment on how young people recount their experiences of being looked after, this will be further explored in the light of gendered, social and welfare constructions o f identity.

One of the key themes arising from interview data is how important notions of individuality are for respondents. Harker et al. (2003:98) acknowledge the same point:

Young people want others to recognise their individuality and avoid attaching generalised stereotypes to all children looked after.

With this in mind the initial interview explored with the young people (then aged 14) their experience of education including: interests outside school, support with school work, understanding o f their looked after status and their plans and ambitions for the future. As with other studies with looked after young people, ‘the interests and agendas of the participants strongly influenced the structure and content of the interviews’ (Dominelli et al. 2005: 1129). There was however an occasional steer to ensure the same topics were covered with all participants, there was also an attempt to allow some fluidity so as the participants could decide ‘what issues are important to a looked after child and therefore give a more vivid picture of the world as children experience it’ (Munro 2001; 129).

Participation and citizenship: a changing view of childhood

The level of engagement in the interviews by the young people was variable. This appeared to be based on a number o f factors including their interest in the research, their willingness to comment on personal information and other pressing issues currently going on in their lives, and also how articulate they were. However, what was shared amongst them was that all felt their views were important and that they had a particular perspective to share. The interview process was informed by the view that young people should be seen as ‘active participants in social life, rather than as human becomings, passive recipients of socialization’ (Lee 2003:47). In this sense the interviews recognised the importance of participation, a principle enshrined in the Children Act 1989 and evident in the current citizenship discourse on childhood and youth (Roche 2004), and policy initiatives such as the Children First

Programme (Welsh Office 1999a) and in the advocacy movement (Pithouse et al. 2005).

Thomas (2005:27) gives weight to this new emphasis on rights and participation:

Taking the time to explain things properly to children, giving them a chance to express their own thoughts and feelings, and creating opportunities for them to influence what happens, can give them a feeling of being in control.

Changing images o f childhood and the emphasis on participation is enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights o f the Child and the involvement of the young people in this study recognised this shift in culture and practice. As with Munroe (2001:135) who interviewed looked after young people and found they ‘are able and willing to articulate their views’. So the respondents in this study were keen to participate. Indeed, the majority o f the young people in this study commented on the appropriateness of their views being sought and were able to respond to the questions and develop their answers, confirming the view o f Gilbertson and Barber (2002: 253) that ‘young people themselves, when given the opportunity to participate in research, are clear that they want a chance to speak about their experiences’. For example, Ben’s view was corroborated by a number of the young people:

I wasn’t sure at first as i t ’s private stuff, but Ken (residential worker) said it would be good, probably ‘cos I ’ve got something to say about most things! I wanna hear my voice on the tape i t ’ll be like on the radio. I ’m going home soon, but fo r (names another boy in the residential unit) who knows what will happen to him, I ’ll make sure I still see him it is right I tell you my views fo r his sake.

(Aged 14, residential care)

Only one young man had difficulty in engaging in the interview process and appeared to be distracted, unable to sit for long and flitting between responding, switching the television off and on and making himself a sandwich. His presentation in the interview and his response seemed to mirror his disconnected experiences of care and school placements. At the time of interview (aged 14) he had been placed in 24 different care placements. With regard to education, most of the young people commented on how important it was that their views should be sought when addressing issues of schooling, which again has been noted elsewhere (DoH 2001:35):

Understanding children’s feelings and perceptions about positive and negative experiences o f school is a necessary part of responding to and enhancing their potential for educational attainment.

None of the young people thought that it was inappropriate for them to be involved in the research and none o f them refused to engage in a further interview.

Making sense of the past

All of the young people used the terms ‘in care’ and ‘looked after’ interchangeably. None of them were able to explain the nature of their looked after status in terms of being subject to a care order or whether they were accommodated on a voluntary arrangement. Whilst it has long been recognised that young people ‘need to find a way to account for their circumstance’ (Daniel and Taylor 2001: 186), the majority of the young people cited their own behaviour as a key reason for not living at home. Comments like ‘7 ju st tell ’em straight,

I ’ve been badly behaved since I was three and my mum and dad had enough,’ typified

responses, rather than any reference to parental factors or deficits. Mallon (2005) in his study of care leavers who had accessed higher education found that perceived rejection by interviewees was the most frequently cited risk factor that contributed to outcomes. Those that had not progressed to higher education were reported to have this feeling most acutely, whilst those that had progressed to higher education rationalised parental behaviour as ‘not coping’ (p.90) rather than rejection. The young people in this study appeared to blame themselves for being looked after and within this may not have possessed a full picture of the circumstances around their family experiences. Indeed, their version of events could possibly impact on their well-being and sense o f blame.

Baldry and Kemmis (1998) found that nearly all of the young people in their survey study of over 70 young people in foster or residential care ‘understood clearly the reasons why they were looked after’ (1998: 37). This does not resonate with the findings in this thesis where only one young man appeared to understand and was able to give a considered and informed explanation for his ‘looked after’ status. He distinguished between what he called “ the real reason” and “ what people need to know” . He distinguished “ the real reason” as strictly private (fatal domestic violence) and what “ people need to know” as the public explanation, “just family stuff means I need to live with foster carers” . From access to his files and records both explanations would appear to be an accurate reflection of his circumstances. In sharp contrast another respondent was asked why he was looked after and he said he didn t know. An attempt was made to present a scenario whereby somebody he had just met was expressing some interest in him and asked why he didn t live with his parents. This young man gave what he described as his usual response to such a question which was, "none o f

your business, fuck offyou smelly bastard’. It was evident from interviews that young people

developed a range of conversational strategies for explaining their circumstances that would allow some sense o f self-esteem. Such strategies may generate some degree of resilience, ‘in particular self-esteem emerges as a critical element underlying children’s ability to develop successful coping strategies’ (Mullender et al. 2004:118).

The impact of separation and loss

Social work wisdom underpinned by evidence based practice would support the view that children who are fostered or living for periods away from home will experience the trauma of separation and loss (Archer 2004). In addition it has long been established within the foster and adoptive care arena that for children and young people to move on in terms of their attachment and stability in alternative placements (when they cannot live at home) they need to be able to make sense o f their previous experiences. Natalie’s view of the past for example included a negative view o f her parents:

I don’t care about them, they don’t give a shit don’t believe me ever. My dad has got a new wife and that is him sorted I just don’t get on with her, she ca n ’t stand me.... I don’t know why that is ju st how it is....who knows, there you go, my life.

(Natalie aged 14, residential care).

Interviews would suggest that little work had been undertaken with them by professionals to help them make sense o f any loss they experienced through the various stages of their looked after experiences. Although one boy did make reference to the role of his foster carers in aiding his understanding o f past events. Fahlberg (1994; 167) drew attention to this issue, ‘the child’s feelings o f loss are frequently ignored or glossed over’. Whilst this was an observation when Fahlberg was writing over a decade ago, this lack of direct work with children may be even more striking in contemporary practice as social workers juggle heavy case loads and respond to performance indicators rather than the more time consuming, specialist intensive direct work (Thomas and O’ Kane 1999; Munro 2001). Good practice would suggest that children placed in permanent arrangements (and many of these respondents were at the start of the study) need to be involved in direct work. However, life story work and the production and collection of tangible material including, letters, photographs and other explanatory documents did not appear to be completed for these children (see also Biehal 2005).

Jackson et al. (2005) in their five year study of three successive groups of young people entering higher education from a background in English local authority care noted ‘social workers had not been assiduous in constructing life story books’ (p.9). Equally, Biehal (2005:209) in her study o f over 2000 young people across eight English local authorities found that adolescents constitute 40 per cent of children admitted to care or accommodation and that very little direct work was being undertaken:

Social workers mentioned their frustration at not being able to make greater use of their professional skills .. .much of their time was spent on tasks they viewed as bureaucratic.

Without this important therapeutic input and a process of reconciling mixed emotions whereby young people can build a supportive and trusting relationship they may be hindered in making sense o f their experiences (Hart 2004). This coherent sense of identity and knowledge of the circumstances of !becoming looked after’ is generally associated with helping young people form relationships, develop self-esteem, promote resilience and thereby help reduce psychological problems such as depression (Walker 2002). To repeat, evidence of this work being undertaken was limited.

Living with uncertainty

All of the young people discussed the future and for most it was with an air of uncertainty in relation to where they would be living. Even those young people who had been in the same placement for some time (and where there was no suggestion of any change) could not say with any certainty that they would be remaining with the same carers, even though they hoped they would. Leonard summed up some of these concerns:

Well I should be here fo r a while that is the plan. But I ’m not sure how long I will be staying. It might be short term, but i f I like it and (names foster

carer) says i t ’s all right I can stay permanent I do i t ’s wicked ‘ere.

(Leonard aged 14, foster care)

Thus for most respondents they appeared to be ‘bearing the burden o f uncertainty’ (Lee 2003: 68). This may not be not surprising. Whilst long term foster care is seen as a ‘permanent’ option it has in fact considerable uncertainties. Sinclair et al. (2005a: 11) explain the difficulties:

On the face o f it, it is a ‘limbo’ placement. Difficult to define, but nevertheless ubiquitous, it offers not a ‘forever family’ but rather a recognition that a return home is no longer planned. On the surface the commitment is ambiguous and tentative - a home while the child behaves or as ‘long as is needed’ or until they take the initiative and go home in their teens.

Interestingly, those young people, who were in school and attending regularly, appeared to be more confident about the continuity of their education placement than the certainty of their care placement. One young person explained her position thus:

Well they’ve (the residential home) had some trouble with me trashing my room so I might be going in the year to a foster carer or a new home. I f I change to foster care, even i f I move to the other side o f the country I know I will still go to this school. Ilo ve that school ...it's the one fo r me.

(Judy aged 14, residential care)

Some of the young people discussed their futures and in particular their academic futures in terms of “ new starts” , “ making up for lost time” and “ turning over new le a f ’. It is of note that all of the young people interviewed claimed they had more worries than other young people their age. Some young people appeared resigned to the circumstances in which they found themselves and responded to the topic with an air of resignation:

Well it is obvious I would have more worries; I ’m only 14 and look w hat’s gone on.

(Anthony aged 14, foster care)

Oh y e a h Loads o f different things really (Douglas aged 14, residential care).

One young woman was able to describe her worries in some detail:

Sometimes people say my father does this and my father does that. I ’ve got three sisters and they all live with my Mam I used to have a brother but he died ...5 years ago. So with all o f that and other stuff, yeh I think I have more worries than other young people my age, I think I have more worries than anybody else here.

(Judy aged 14, residential care)

Indeed, their concerns and worries (see also DoH 2001) were a prominent feature of interview data and not simply an artefact of the interview schedule.

Attitudes to school and achievement

One might have assumed, given what we know from previous research about looked after children and their limited attainment in school, that the study population would have presented as disaffected and with little enthusiasm for education (see Pommeroy 1999). The opposite was the case. The group on the whole was neither ‘anti-school’ nor reluctant to return and re-engage if they were ‘out of school’. There was only one young man who expressed antipathy to school. It appeared that he had, as Fletcher-Campbell et al. put it (2003:3) ‘developed attitudes and behaviour which were incompatible with learning in school’. Far from being disengaged from school as in other research (Baldry and Kemmis 1998) many of the young people in this study said they were worried about their educational achievement and saw the importance of doing well and welcomed additional support. Some of the young people, mainly the girls, talked about being bullied at school and the fear of being teased or ‘gossiped’ about. It was sometimes the sharing of information by peers about the young person’s looked after status .that was perceived by the girls as bullying, particularly if they felt confidential information such as issues that had brought them into the looked after system had been shared with other pupils.

A small number of young people (three) complained about attending the pupil referral unit (PRU) and felt concerned that when they returned to mainstream education they would be labelled as ‘thick’.

I t ’s (PRU) OK but we don Y do anything (Nathan, 14, remand foster care) Being out o f school seems great at first, but I cannot go back (to school) / don’t know anybody or anything, I ’d look a right dick ‘ed and I ’m not