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Paper

State care as a pathway to homelessness: implications for the transition to adulthood

abstract

Background

There is general consensus that the transition to adulthood has become more complex and protracted for the majority of 'ordinary' young people in Western societies. At the same time, for a significant minority, this transition unfolds at an accelerated rate, resulting in what has been described as a 'polarising' or excluding effect (Jones 2002).

Aims and methods

This paper examines the relationship between problematic care histories and difficult or fractured transitions to adulthood based on selected findings from a qualitative study of homeless young people in the Southern region of the Republic of Ireland.

The study's core data collection method was the life history interview, which is a particularly effective approach to capturing the experiences of young people in transition. A total of 37 young people (20 young men and 17 young women) between the ages of 16 and 25 years were interviewed in-depth between May 2006 and February 2007.

Key findings

A detailed analysis of young people's biographical narratives revealed 'State care' as one of four pathways 'into' homelessness. Young people in this pathway almost always reported problematic care histories, most had experienced placement instability and a smaller number reported abusive practices within one or more of their care settings.

Multiple care placements, leading to fractured and dislocated experiences, emerged as a distinctive theme in their narratives and there was strong evidence that this instability hampered their ability to successfully negotiate the challenging transition towards independence. The inability of the care system to retain young people, and to manage their movement out of care, was strongly implicated in the problematic transitions of these young people. As a consequence, they confronted the 'double jeopardy' of having care and homeless histories. The implications of the findings for improving outcomes of young people with difficult care experiences are discussed.

Reference

Jones, G. (2002) The Youth Divide: Diverging Pathways to Adulthood. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

 

Contact details

Paula Mayock, PhD, Lecturer in Youth Research, School of Social Work and Social Policy and Children's Research Centre, Trinity College Dublin.

Email: pmayock@tcd.ie

Nicola Carr, Research Fellow, Children's Research Centre, Trinity College Dublin.

Email: ncarr@tcd.ie

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