CapÍtulo III: MARCO METODOLÓGICO
3.6. VERIFICACIÓN DE LA IDEA A DEFENDER
Background factors implicated in care entry
It is known that care entry often takes place against a background of problems such as poverty, racism, abuse and neglect, acute familial stress and parental illness (Axford 2008, Department for Children, Schools and Families 2009a, Owen and Statham 2009).
Where the young people chose to talk about the circumstances surrounding their entry into care, their accounts reflected similar problems, as illustrated by the following accounts.
Hayley‟s family left her father and moved out of the area; however her mother could not cope with the isolation, so they returned. This led to further problems with
accommodation, coupled with poor school attendance, at which point Hayley, then aged fifteen, and her baby son Danny, were taken into care, leaving her younger brother and sister at home:
Hayley: “Because I had Danny and for a while I lived with my boyfriend, well my ex- boyfriend, Danny‟s dad, and his mum, but we were arguing a lot so I moved out and I went to live like with my mum, but my mum didn‟t have nowhere stable to live so we were all really just staying round friends‟ houses and my mum just thought it was out of order on us, like, „cause we were living such an unsettled life, and she was
dragging us from one place to another, „cause we didn‟t have nowhere to stay and she couldn‟t afford private or bond or anything, so she phoned up the Social Services and just asked them to take us into care ...”
In Sophie and Andrew‟s case, their mother became ill and their father struggled to care for them and their two older siblings, resulting in Sophie and Andrew being received into care, while the other two siblings remained at home:
Sophie: “Well then Mum started to get poorly so that is how we had to be put into care ... because Dad couldn‟t cope with me and Andrew because he already had Adam and Marie, Adam and Marie were older than us.”
Andrew: “We‟re younger so … it was much harder.”
Jade‟s parents had divorced, leaving her father also unable to care for the children, while Debbie had been living with a distant relative who physically abused her.
For all these young people, events outside their control were implicated in their entry into care. Their accounts of abuse, illness and homelessness reflected their attempts to make sense of such events, and seemed to represent some of the ways in which multi- dimensional disadvantage within families, such as longstanding abuse, parental stress and strained relationships, can often precipitate children‟s entry into care (Axford 2008, Department for Children, Schools and Families 2009a).
Being separated from siblings on entering care
Recent evidence points to the high numbers of looked after children who continue to be separated from their siblings on entering care (Children‟s Rights Director 2009a). This was a common theme across young people‟s accounts, with several of them providing evidence of being separated from either some or all siblings. The manner of separation varied between young people. As far as could be ascertained from the young people‟s accounts, at the time of care entry, six of the eighteen participants were placed
separately from some of their siblings, six were placed separately from all their siblings, and six were placed with all their siblings.
Six of the young people came into care alone, resulting in separation from all of their siblings. This was a very difficult time in their lives, and some of them understandably did not talk in great detail about the event. However it was possible to gain some insight into the distressing nature of separation from siblings which resulted. Daniel, for
instance, vividly described his memories of first coming into care:
Daniel: “Went into care when I was quite young and I got pulled away from my
family, then most of the family started breaking down, so everyone was all unhappy.”
He was initially separated from his brother, and viewed the process of being taken into care as being the trigger for a series of events which resulted in the breakdown of his family. He recalled his mother protesting angrily when he was taken into care:
Daniel: “When theytake your kids off you, obviously Mum ain‟t going to act all calm
and that, she‟s going to be shouting and that, and they think she‟s a bad mother if she‟s shouting at us …”
Daniel‟s description of events suggests that the background to his being separated from his siblings was a distressing scene of anger and confrontation. The events may have exacerbated the feelings of loss he was already having to cope with through entering care alone.
Nicky‟s account of separation from her brothers was evocative of the longer term impact of that separation. On entering care, she left two brothers at home, whom she was unable to see for a long time as a result of conflict with her mother:
Researcher: “So you wanted to see your brothers during that time but, you couldn‟t
because you were obviously not having ... [contact] with your mum. So
it‟s last year that you started seeing more of them ...”
Nicky: “... yeah „cause I seen my little brother on Christmas Day, but I was real
upset afterwards.”
Nicky‟s account illustrated not only the distress of separation, but also the pressure of coping with her feelings about renewing contact with her brother on Christmas Day. Although Nicky chose not to elaborate on what was evidently a painful time for her, the comments made by Jade (not Nicky‟s sister but fostered by the same carer as her and interviewed with her) revealed how difficult it had been for Nicky. Jade remembered how Nicky had behaved when she first came to the placement:
Jade: “First time she came to our house she wouldn‟t talk to no-one.”
There was one example of a young person being given reasons as to why she could not be placed with her siblings. Hayley came into care with her young son, and was seen as a priority over her other two siblings:
Hayley: “... but they took me into it [care] at first, I went into care with Danny [son]
and for a while they were saying they can‟t put Charlie and Holly in care „cause it‟s not urgent and there‟s not enough placements and everything.”
The reality for Hayley of being taken into care first, was that when her brother and sister were later taken into care, they were placed separately from her, and at a distance.
The other three young people who were separated from all their siblings did not talk much about the surrounding circumstances, however it was possible to discern some of the challenges which separation posed for them, in terms of their sense of identity and belonging. While growing up in care, Reece had to make sense of the fact that he was the only one of eleven siblings to have come into care. Debbie had left behind several siblings, including a brother who had abused her. She had received phone calls from this brother after leaving care, and found it difficult to speak to him because of the associations with her past experiences. Shelley, placed with her grandmother while her brother was moved through several foster placements, had wanted him to come and live with her, and waited some time for this to happen.
Some of those with several siblings had experience of rapid moves on entering care, both with and without siblings, as illustrated by this excerpt from Mark and Kerry‟s lengthy discussion:
Kerry: “And then it was me and Mark went somewhere else.”
Researcher: “Mm, so we‟ve got Kate and Daniel there and then you and Mark went.” Kerry: “So that, yes but who was it with, Mrs. Brown or was it a different
person?”
Mark: “You were there.”
Researcher: “So … who do you think it was then?” Mark: “The Smiths.”
Researcher: “The Smiths, yes, okay. Do you think that was at the same time, or was it that Kate and Daniel went first?”
Kerry: “Yes, same time, same time … yep.”
Mark: “And then Daniel got moved somewhere else … and then …” Researcher: “So, let me show the different places; so then …”
Kerry: “Daniel moved he went to a house.” Mark: “No Daniel got moved somewhere else.” Kerry: “Then he went to Mrs. Brown‟s house.” Researcher: “So he was moved from there, yes?”
Mark: “Yes, and then Kate got moved to, what was the name again?” The accounts of Kerry, Mark, Andrew and Sophie reflected the reality for looked after young people of undergoing many moves (Schofield et al. 2007), which often began
with a rapid series of separations from siblings. The accounts also confirmed the increased risk of separate placement as a result of being part of a large sibling group (Hegar 2005, Wulzcyn and Zimmerman 2005). The accounts of all these young people provided valuable insights, currently underdeveloped within existing research (as discussed in Chapter Three), into the profound and often distressing impact of separation from siblings on entering care.
Despite the negative effects of care entry, including enforced separation from siblings, it would be wrong to characterise the young people as simply passively accepting the events surrounding their entry into care. As will be shown in the following section, a few young people were able to react in ways which ameliorated, for them, the negative impact of the experience.
Accounts of assertiveness in relation to care entry
It is known that young people can experience the process of care entry as being one in which they are powerless to influence decisions (Schneider and Phares 2005, Mason 2008). This is indicative of the lack of power encountered by young people in general within their relationships with adults (Mayall 2005). Although most accounts reflected a
lack of control at the time of entering care, in a few situations young people‟s assertiveness came through, either in terms of a determination to make their own decisions concerning sibling contact, or to maintain a sense of self esteem within the process of being placed in care.
One illustration of assertiveness was provided by David, who felt that he and his brother had influenced adult decisions about contact with their other siblings. This is
demonstrated by the following excerpt, in which he talked about their determination to choose how often they came home to see their family, which included their four younger siblings:
David: “… cause we used to be out of Lacton … and then it [contact] had to be
arranged by social services.”
Researcher: “So you weren‟t able to choose then?”
David: “Well we was, „cause we said come down there every week.”
[David‟s home town is referred to as Lacton in order to maintain anonymity.]
David‟s emphasis on the word was suggests that he and his brother directly challenged the frequency of contact planned by the local authority. Although he did not say
whether this was successful, his assertive comments in the interview implied that this was the case. In addition, his repeated use of the word we demonstrated solidarity with
his brother, also placed out of their home town.
Two other young people were able to construct accounts concerning their entry into care in which they retained a sense of self esteem. Reece talked positively about his ability to cope with having entered care at a young age:
Researcher: “So how old were you when you first come into care?” Reece: “Two … so I kept it large all the way through mate!”
He further stated: “nothing‟s changed, just except for I don‟t sleep at my mum‟s house”. His assertion suggested a desire not to be set apart from his siblings simply as a result
of having been placed in care, and may have been of critical importance to him in maintaining a positive sense of self esteem.
In Kelly‟s case, the death of a sibling had precipitated her entry into care, and as a result she felt she had to challenge broader discriminatory attitudes towards children in the care system, which portray them as uncontrollable, or troublemakers (Children‟s Rights Director 2009c), stating “I did nothing wrong”. Both Reece and Kelly‟s accounts
suggested that the young people concerned were attempting to maintain a sense of self esteem by making sense of their entry into care in a positive way.
The strategies of all three young people reflected how young people‟s assertiveness as social actors appeared to help them to feel as though they had increased control of their lives and relationships (James et al. 2005). Their accounts also hint at how such
assertiveness was symbolically helpful when looking back on events which had been outside their control and had often resulted in separation from siblings. This provides an insight into the ways in which power can be constructed and exercised within specific contexts (Healy 2005).