Transcending borders: Social support and resilience, the case of separated children

Abstract

The specific support needs of separated children are widely documented, with the additional risks and care concerns making this a particularly complex and vulnerable group. More recently, researchers have also turned their attention to the strength and resilience evident within this group. This paper presents a summary of the findings from a small-scale qualitative study undertaken to better understand the perceived social support networks of such young people in the Irish context. The issues of their particular needs and vulnerability along with information about their social support and resilience as key findings from the study are discussed, and tentative recommendations for practice set out. This discussion is informed and contextualized by reference to social support and resilience theory, which is used as a lens to explore issues for this group.

Keywords:

• separated children
• social support
• resilience

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. For the purposes of this article, we will utilize the term “separated children” as this is the preferred term in the Irish context currently, although other terms will be referred to from the literature.