Abstract
Most studies of adolescents placed in foster care due to severe conduct problems have focused on their problems, while adolescents with healthy adulthood condition remain understudied. In Finland, adolescents with severe conduct problems are placed in reform schools (RS). The purpose of this study was to examine how former RS adolescents’ narrative identity and capability construction interact in different phases of their life-stories. Semi-structured life-story interviews were conducted with 13 former RS adolescents with healthy adulthood condition. Data were analyzed using a narrative constructivist method. We found a story in which the theoretical elements found from the research material were especially rich and thick and decided to present it as a case example of our findings—Anna’s story. The analysis showed that capabilities were closely related to RS adolescents’ identity construction and well-being. Strengthened capabilities provided material for identity construction, such as identities of meaning making, agency, redemption, and communion. The findings of the study point out that out-of-home care adolescents’ stable and trusting relationships should be supported as they may strengthen capabilities and help develop feelings of meaningfulness, belonging, experienced parity of participation and senses of coherence.
Highlights
Child protection services are legislated under Finnish child welfare law
Our aim was to bundle the interviews based on how thick they were in terms of theoretical frames used in the analysis, i.e. how often the adolescents’ speech reflected a transition in narrative identity construct and interacted with their capabilities
Our aim was to bundle the interviews based on how thick they were in terms of theoretical frames used in the analysis, i.e., how often the participants’ speech reflected a transition in each narrative identity construct and interacted with their capabilities
Summary
Child protection services are legislated under Finnish child welfare law. Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health prepares and supervises the legislation of child protection services. Reform schools (RS) in Finland are child welfare institutions that organize demanding substitute care and special care education. RS is the final child welfare service resort for out-of-home care (OOHC) children and adolescents displaying disruptive behavior, substance abuse, delinquency and severe school dysfunction, and its aim is to secure their care, compulsory education, and mental health services. The residents attend a specialized elementary school, share meals, and participate in various constructive activities such as sports, music playing and holiday trips They are provided with physical and mental health care services. The aim is to focus on rehabilitation, and only a few adolescents below the age of 18 are imprisoned annually In other countries, such as the US and the UK, juvenile delinquency and disruptive behavior are treated in the juvenile court system, and a substantial number of minors are sentenced to prison (Hartney, 2006; Lappi-Seppälä, 2011). Studies from other Nordic countries show similar development paths from teenage to adulthood of children and adolescents with behavioral problems including very high rates of premature death, serious involvement in crime, hospitalizations for mental-health problems, teenage parenthood, self-support problems and low educational attainment (Vinnerljung & Sallnäs, 2008)
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