School as an opportunity and resilience factor for young people placed in care

Abstract

The aim of this article is to describe and discuss how school can constitute a life opportunity and a resilience factor for young people at risk, as well as for those placed in care. Thirty-three young people were interviewed on two separate occasions. The results showed that school could provide a place of structure and safety, in contrast to a chaotic family life. When it was impossible to bring friends home, due to parents' problems, school also gave young people from dysfunctional families a chance to spend time with friends, and provided them with a sense of ‘normality’. When school had skilled professionals—teachers, mentors and nurses—who approached children and young people with empathy and commitment, our interviewees felt recognised and appreciated. The possibility of repeating a year was also of importance. Providing a school of high as well as stable quality, with well educated and committed professionals, may constitute an important resilience factor for disadvantaged children and young people, and thus constitute a platform for the opening of educational pathways and enhancing of future life opportunities. School could also give children and young people access to social capital, when birth families had few resources.

Syftet med denna artikel är att beskriva och diskutera de sätt på vilka utbildning kan utgöra en livsmöjlighet och en resilient faktor för unga i riskzonen, likaväl som för de som placerats i samhällsvård. 33 ungdomar intervjuades vid två skilda tillfällen (26 deltog vid andra tillfället). Resultaten visar att skolan kan utgöra en strukturerad och trygg plats, i kontrast till en kaotisk familjesituation. När det, beroende på föräldrarnas problem, var omöjligt att ta hem kamrater kunde skolan ge ungdomarna från dysfunktionella familjer möjligheten att umgås med vänner och utveckla en känsla av ‘normalitet’. I skolor, med utbildade professionella—lärare, mentorer, skolsköterskor—som mötte barnen och ungdomarna med empati och engagemang, kände sig intervjupersonerna sedda och uppskattade. Möjligheten att gå om ett år var också viktigt för dem. Tillgång till utbildning av hög och jämn kvalitet, med välutbildade och engagerade professionella, kan utgöra en viktig resilient faktor för utsatta barn och ungdomar och därmed skapa en plattform för högre utbildning och stärkta framtida livsmöjligheter. Skolan kunde också ge tillgång till socialt kapital när ursprungsfamiljerna saknade sådana resurser.

Keywords:

• Education
• Public Care In Sweden
• Resilience
• Social Capital

Nyckelord:

• utbildning
• samhällsvård
• resiliens
• Sverige

Notes

1. The research leading to these results received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme under Grant agreement no. 217297. The research project was undertaken by a team of cross-national researchers from: the Danish School of Education University of Aarhus, Denmark; the Institute for Social Policy and Labour, Hungary; the Research Institute on Quality of Life, University of Gerona, Spain; the Department of Social Work and the Department of Education, University of Gothenburg; and the Thomas Coram Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London, England. All the researchers have contributed to the research reported here but responsibility for this article lies with the authors. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of other partners or of the European Union.

2. GOLD includes all individuals born between 1972 and 1992, who lived in Sweden at the age of 16. (N=2,184,866). The data-set contains for example data on parents' education, family structure and information of the educational situation of the individual (all forms of schools, grades, programmes at university, exams, study financing etc.). There are some limitations; data after the completion of compulsory school are missing for the cohorts born 1988–1992. Statistics on measures taken/interventions by the social services for children and young persons have since 1994 been published by the National Board of Health and Welfare. The statistics contain data on all young persons placed in care, including legal framework, time in care, age at first placement, number of placements and placement form (foster home or residential care). In the sample used within the project persons born 1973 and later were included.