Time and context shaping the transition from out-of-home care to adulthood in Portugal

Alyona Artamonova,Maria Das Dores Guerreiro,Ingrid Höjer

doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105105

Alyona Artamonova, Maria Das Dores Guerreiro + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105105

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Abstract

The difficulties that modern care leavers face on the way to independence are the focus of many studies. The present research illustrates how time and context - operationalised through belonging to different generations, from the previous century to today – has shaped care leavers’ pathways to adulthood in Portugal. To trace these pathways, ten care leavers were selected based on purposeful sampling and snowball methods. To reveal the factors that indicate care leavers’ better life outcomes, interviews with seven experts working with this vulnerable population group were organised. The pathways of male informants look “normal”, even thriving, when compared with the trajectories of the general population of Portugal in the second half of the 20th century, while the experiences of female care leavers sound somewhat traumatising. The timing and sequence of the young cohorts’ transition to adulthood events does not look aberrant compared to the general population. The various factors that determine a care leaver’s better life outcomes emerged as access to the tangible and intangible resources needed to generate human and social capital, and personal agency. Care leavers from older cohorts were empowered by means of education and the support of former residents of out-of-home care institutions. Women from older cohorts could receive education but, due to the social context, they were not expected to build careers. The educational opportunities given to them were very basic and did not afford them the confidence to deal with adversity. Care leavers from younger cohorts seem to lose the advantage of competitive education and the sense of belonging to a large and powerful childcare institution due to the democratisation of the education system and de-institutionalisation of residential care in the country. However, they can stay in care longer, gain practical skills for independent living and benefit from the personalised support of professionals to deal with adversity.

Highlights

Transition to adulthood is a process where many people share quite similar experiences
The older generation of female care leavers was represented by two women aged 62 and 64 who were living in residential care homes for 8–15 years
The life course tradition and the model of identity capital were chosen as the main framework to explain how time and context shaped the pathways to adulthood of Portuguese care leavers

Summary

Introduction

Transition to adulthood is a process where many people share quite similar experiences. A growing body of research emphasises that children and young people with experience of out-of-home care do not perform well in school, compared to their peers. A study of care leavers born between 1920 and 1983 showed that the informants were generally socially integrated (Maia, Martins, Marques, Alves, & Veiga, 2012). The percent of those who did not have a partner and children was low; the majority reached a medium or upper high school level; the vast majority continued to invest in their academic career after leaving care; they rarely had problems with employment. Finding a partner and childbearing became a misplaced priority for young people going through the process of leaving care; they hardly saw themselves as future partners or parents (Adeboye, Guerreiro, & Höjer, 2019)

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