Prelims
Youth Transitions Out of State Care: Being Recognized as Worthy of Care, Respect, and Support
ISBN: 978-1-80262-488-5, eISBN: 978-1-80262-487-8
Publication date: 2 May 2023
Citation
Glynn, N. (2023), "Prelims", Youth Transitions Out of State Care: Being Recognized as Worthy of Care, Respect, and Support, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. i-xvii. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80262-487-820231009
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2023 Natalie Glynn
Half Title Page
Youth Transitions Out of State Care
Title Page
Youth Transitions Out of State Care: Being Recognized as Worthy of Care, Respect, and Support
by
Natalie Glynn
Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany
United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China
Copyright Page
Emerald Publishing Limited
Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK
First edition 2023
Copyright © 2023 Natalie Glynn.
Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-80262-488-5 (Print)
ISBN: 978-1-80262-487-8 (Online)
ISBN: 978-1-80262-489-2 (Epub)
Contents
Dedication | ix |
List of Figure and Tables | xi |
List of Abbreviations | xiii |
About the Author | xv |
Acknowledgments | xvii |
Chapter One: Introduction | 1 |
Youth Transitions in Transformation | 1 |
How Care Transitions are Different | 4 |
Less Education, More Unemployment, and Greater Public Assistance | 5 |
Housing Vulnerability and Early Family Formation | 7 |
The Care-leaving Policy Landscape | 8 |
Social Investment Versus Social Inclusion | 8 |
Ireland: A Case Study in Social Investment Oriented Aftercare | 10 |
Research Rationale | 14 |
Turning the Narrative Away from a Focus on Negative Experiences | 17 |
Structure of the Book | 19 |
Chapter Two: A Theoretical Approach to Understanding the Transition Out of Care | 21 |
Introduction | 21 |
Identifying the Gap(s) in Current Understandings | 21 |
Current Approaches in Leaving Care Literature | 21 |
Structure and Agency in Youth Studies | 24 |
Using Recognition, Precarity, and Liminality to Analyze Structure and Agency in the Transition Out of Care | 27 |
Recognition Theory | 27 |
Recognition in Society: Experiencing Precariousness | 37 |
Youth as a Liminal Period | 40 |
Integrating the Theoretical Framework | 42 |
Conclusion | 43 |
Chapter Three: Isaac's Path Through Education | 45 |
Introduction | 45 |
Background | 46 |
The Value of Security | 48 |
Time to Mature and Learn Adulthood | 48 |
Creating a Liminal Space | 50 |
The Double-edged Sword of Freedom | 51 |
Being “Normal” | 52 |
The Value of Relationships | 52 |
The Value of Meaningful Activities | 53 |
Ongoing Concerns and Recognizing Precarity | 54 |
Contesting a Valued Life | 56 |
Conclusion | 57 |
Chapter Four: Jennifer's Struggles in Education | 59 |
Introduction | 59 |
Background | 60 |
The Value of Security | 61 |
Time to Mature and Learn Adulthood | 61 |
The Double-edged Sword of Freedom | 62 |
Control and Communication | 65 |
Being “Normal” | 67 |
The Value of Meaningful Activities | 68 |
Being “Normal” Through Caring Relationships | 68 |
Ongoing Concerns and Recognizing Precarity | 70 |
Citizenship | 70 |
Housing | 71 |
Safety of Siblings | 73 |
Conclusion | 73 |
Chapter Five: Ethan's Path Through Homelessness | 75 |
Introduction | 75 |
Background | 76 |
The Value of Security | 77 |
A Liminal Time to “Figure Things Out” | 79 |
Control and Communication | 80 |
Seeking “Normal” | 82 |
Doing Life “Properly” | 82 |
The Value of Relationships | 83 |
The Value of Meaningful Activities | 85 |
A Precarious Existence: Living with Long-term Uncertainty | 87 |
Rationing Support as Institutional Misrecognition | 88 |
Communicating Care in Working Relationships | 90 |
Conclusion | 93 |
Chapter Six: Conclusions – Desiring Liminality and Institutional Recognition | 95 |
Introduction | 95 |
Understanding the Transition from Care as a Process in Time | 95 |
Moving Beyond a Problem-focused Account of Leaving Care | 97 |
Striving for Normal: Being Recognized as Respectable and Deserving | 98 |
Negotiating Uncertainty: The Precarity of Freedom | 102 |
Theorizing Leaving Care: Integrating Agency and Structure | 104 |
Policy and Practice Recommendations | 107 |
The Potential Synergies of Social Investment and Inclusion Policies | 107 |
Study Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research | 110 |
Concluding Remarks | 111 |
Appendix 1: Types of Aftercare Housing Arrangements | 113 |
Remaining in Placement | 113 |
Supported Lodgings | 113 |
Aftercare Designated Housing | 114 |
Private-rented Accommodation | 114 |
Appendix 2: Relevant Irish Welfare Benefits | 115 |
Job Seeker's Allowance | 115 |
Back-to-Education Allowance | 115 |
Housing Assistance Payment | 116 |
SUSI Grant | 116 |
Medical Card | 116 |
Appendix 3: Methodology | 117 |
Introduction | 117 |
Designing the Research | 117 |
Epistemology | 117 |
Qualitative Longitudinal Multi-case Study | 118 |
Study Design: Choosing the Methods | 122 |
Fieldwork | 128 |
Field Entrée | 128 |
Sampling and Recruitment | 129 |
Data Collection | 133 |
Data Analysis | 141 |
Trustworthiness and Rigor | 143 |
Conclusion | 144 |
Appendix 4: The Irish Education System | 145 |
Junior Cycle and Certificate | 145 |
Senior Cycle and Leaving Certificates | 146 |
Established Leaving Certificate | 146 |
Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme | 146 |
Leaving Certificate Applied | 146 |
Further Education and Training | 147 |
PLC Courses | 147 |
Central Applications Office | 147 |
Alternative Access Schemes | 148 |
DARE Scheme | 148 |
HEAR Scheme | 148 |
Appendix 5: Immigration Information | 151 |
References | 153 |
Index | 175 |
Dedication
This book is dedicated to the memory of Christian (pseudonym), a young man with much promise and ambition who generously shared his life with me throughout the year before his untimely death in 2018.
For Whom the Bell Tolls
No man is an island, entire of itself.
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
As well as if a promontory were,
As well as if a manor of thy friends
Or of thine own were.
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind.
And, therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
— John Donne
List of Figure and Tables
Figure
Fig. 1. | Concepts Underpinning the Theoretical Framework | 42 |
Tables
Table 1. | Selection of Leaving Care Policies Internationally | 11 |
Table 2. | Aftercare Policy Developments | 13 |
Table 3. | Integrating the Conceptual Framework | 106 |
Table 4. | Participation in Interviews by Phase of Study | 132 |
Table 5. | Participant Retention Overview | 136 |
List of Abbreviations
CAO | Central Applications Office |
HAP | Housing Assistance Payment |
HSE | Health Service Executive |
ILP | Independent Living Program |
IT(s) | Institute(s) of Technology |
NEET | Not in Employment, Education, or Training |
OECD | Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development |
P1 | Phase 1 interview |
P2 | Phase 2 interview |
P3 | Phase 3 interview |
PLC | Post-Leaving Certificate course |
QLR | Qualitative Longitudinal Research |
STEM | Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics |
SUSI | Student Universal Support Ireland |
TSS | Transition Support Services |
UK | United Kingdom |
USA | United States of America |
About the Author
Natalie Glynn is a Lecturer and Research Officer in the Comparative Public Policy Research Group at the Institute of Political Science at the University of Tübingen. She was a Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholar for the Irish Research Council from 2016 to 2019. She has also worked as an Evaluation Fellow at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. Prior to entering research, she was a sixth-grade science teacher at Todd County Middle School in Mission, South Dakota on the Rosebud Reservation, where she developed a passion for working with young people.
Acknowledgments
First, I would like to acknowledge the young women and men who participated in this study, without whom this work would not be possible. You shared your lives and stories with me, for which I am honored and appreciative. I would also like to thank the numerous professionals who gave of their time and supported me in making contact with the participants. Their efforts may often feel unseen, but I will forever remember their good works.
Second, there are many colleagues and academic sources of support that helped this book come to fruition. My doctoral supervisor, Dr. Paula Mayock, who took on a novice researcher from another continent with not much more to go on than an email, saw promise in me and my ideas, for which I am forever grateful. My current supervisor, Dr. Martin Seeleib-Kaiser saw fit to support me in publishing this work as a book, giving advice and encouragement throughout the proposal stage and writing process. I am also indebted to the careful reading, kind words, and thoughtful conversations of many friends at 30 Anglesea Street. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the funding that made this research possible. The School of Social Work and Social Policy first invested in my ideas through a studentship. Then, the Irish Research Council also saw merit in the work, funding the final three years.
Last, but certainly not least, I must acknowledge the loving support of my partner, Paul Wix. Having met on the beach of Inis Mór in the early days of my doctoral studies, our relationship has been a bulwark for me through the ebbs and flows of writing this book. I can say with certainty that without you I would not have finished, and I will be forever grateful for your companionship and care.
- Prelims
- Chapter One: Introduction
- Chapter Two: A Theoretical Approach to Understanding the Transition Out of Care
- Chapter Three: Isaac's Path Through Education
- Chapter Four: Jennifer's Struggles in Education
- Chapter Five: Ethan's Path Through Homelessness
- Chapter Six: Conclusions – Desiring Liminality and Institutional Recognition
- Appendix 1: Types of Aftercare Housing Arrangements
- Appendix 2: Relevant Irish Welfare Benefits
- Appendix 3: Methodology
- Appendix 4: The Irish Education System
- Appendix 5: Immigration Information
- References
- Index