Changing Children

1

Getting it Right for Every Child Conference,
Glasgow, September 2008

• Changing Childrens Services promoting and
  supporting informal care
• Prof. Robbie Gilligan,
• School of Social Work and Social Policy,
• Trinity College Dublin

2
Fragments by Raymond Carver

• And did you get what
• You wanted from this life, even so?
• I did.
• And what did you want?
• To call myself beloved, to feel myself
• Beloved on the earth

3
Harsh reality

• But many vulnerable young people may not feel
  beloved. There is a real risk that their future
  may represent
• an endless tundra of aloneness and loneliness
• (Brian Friel, Irish playwright)

4
Isolation of young person who grew up in care (1)

• Living in bed-sit with girlfriend and child
• Bitter about the after-effects of life in care
• Tells researcher he would get married
• But I have no-one to invite to the wedding
  (Maunders et al)

5
Relationships and Vulnerability

• Young people may be vulnerable because (or in
  large part because ) of lacking a network of
  safe, trusting, supportive enduring relationships
  with others
• Such a profile is a striking feature of many of
  the most vulnerable

6
Isolation of young person who grew up in care
(2)

• Young woman who had left care and was part of
  study of how such young people who were doing
• Researcher got a phone call in middle of night
  from this woman who felt endangered by a man at
  that moment because researcher was the only
  person she felt able to call on (she knew
  researcher only very slightly) (Judy Cashmore)

7
The importance of relationships

• Relationships (and not just formal interventions
  or services) are a key element in helping young
  people to escape the risk of social exclusion.

8
Services and Relationships

• Services do not deliver or guarantee
  relationships
• Relationships and enduring connections more
  likely to arise in the natural and informal
  networks of the person
• Challenge for services is to work in ways which
  nurture and sustain the emergence of relationships

9
Relatedness and Relationships for Children

• Attachment relationships (enduring, comforting ,
  empowering)
• Primary attachments
• parents,
• replacement carers
• Secondary attachments
• Significant adults
• Teachers
• Relatives
• Organic Mentors
• Peers

10
The Power of Relationships (1)

• Although education and other societal services
  may have a preventive effect (e.g. Jahnukainen,
  2004) it seems , interestingly, that much more
  power lies in totally non-institutionalised and
  non-formal factors such as close human
  relationships (emphasis added) (Jahnukainen and
  Jarvinen, 2005, p. 680)

11
The Power of Relationships (2)

• it was those individuals adult survivors of
  childhood maltreatment with good relationship
  experiences across different domains and across
  childhood, adolescence and adulthood who were
  particularly likely to demonstrate resilience
• (Collishaw et al , 2007)

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Key Message

• Importance of a strong relationship with an
  adult for vulnerable young people generally
  (Luthar, Sawyer and Brown, 2006)
• Need to focus on building relationships, rather
  than services, for young people

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Strong Relationship with Adult

• Emotional support
• Practical support
• Positive role model
• From relationships with women and men

14
Raimon Gaita in Romulus, My Father

• On many occasions in my life I have had the need
  to say, and thankfully have been able to say I
  know what a good workman is I know what an
  honest man is I know what friendship is I know
  because I remember these things in the person of
  my father, in the person of his friend Hora, and
  in the example of their friendship p. 74

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Importance of recognising complex and positive
motivation in give and take of support

• Russian Jewish man taught Ian Smith (Tameside
  Social Services) as a boy to play chess. It
  emerged later that the man had lost five sons in
  the second world war. Ian was then a boy of their
  age

17
Social Support
18
Sources of Informal Social Support
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Importance of Siblings

• Older siblings may play a quasi-parental role,
  providing advice, guidance and practical support
  (Wade, 2006) as for this care leaver
• I think (his sister) helps him feel like hes
  got a home, even though he doesnt live there. He
  can go and get his washing done there and shes
  very caring and accepting of him (Leaving care
  worker quoted in Wade, 2006)

20
Informal support for young people under stress
the importance of siblings?

• Findings suggest that sibling affection is
  protective (against stressful life events)
  regardless of the age gap found between siblings
  and the gender composition of the dyad..and of
  the quality of the parent-child relationship
  the provision of security and comfort once
  ascribed mainly to parental figures may emphasis
  in original also be a role that siblings can
  fulfil when children experience stress caused by
  life events (Gass, Jenkins and Dunn, 2006).

21
Importance of peers and informal support

• At the end of the day you only have each other.
  The staff are lovely but theyre paid to be here
  and theres no getting out of that. They cant be
  with us every minute so its up to us to make
  the place home.make sure its the way we want
  it..no one is allowed to get too big for their
  boots here.it just spoils it for everyone. The
  staff cannae stop that happening, thats for us
  to do. (Bryony, quoted in Emond 2002)

22
The power of teachers (1)

• Story 1 Whatever you do, girls, keep reading
  books (Primary Teacher to young class, whose
  words reverberate down the generations)

23
The Power of Teachers (2)

• Story 2 You work hard, and youll do alright
  Young teacher of English, whose words prove
  turning point in life of 16 year old

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Value of Social Roles

• for women and men of varied educational status,
  an increased number of roles was associated with
  better quality relations with others, a greater
  sense of effectively managing ones life and
  surroundings, greater purpose in life and greater
  positive affect
• From Ahrens and Ryff (2006) based on data from
  the Midlife in the United States Study (MIDUS)

25
Socially Valued Roles

• Performing valued social roles offers social
  inclusion and relationships (examples)
• student
• worker
• neighbour
• relative
• volunteer
• faith community member
• community citizen

26
Key Domains in a Persons Life as a Source of
Valued Social Roles
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Multiple players in supporting Education and
Spare Time Activities

• Parents
• Siblings
• Carers
• Teachers
• Sports Coaches
• Other Relatives
• Others

28
Examples of Adults Supporting Progress in
Education and Spare Time Activities

• Supporting involvement in
• Rugby club
• Mascot of ice hockey club
• Synchronised swimming
• Dance
• Learning to play flute
• Tennis
• Collecting Tropical Fish
• Care of Neighbours Horses

29
Turning Points - Example

• One man emphasised that being good at sports
  in adolescence changed his life. After being
  successful in boxing he was offered an
  opportunity to join an army special group for
  athletics. This was good for his self esteem. In
  his own words, being good at boxing was kind of
  like the first time I felt proud of something. I
  felt proud of myself. (an example from Finland,
  from Ronka, Oravala and Pulkinnen, 2002)

30
Mentors, Turning Points and Serendipity

• Man sent as boy to reform school, and assigned
  to electrical workshop he loved amateur
  radio. And he got me interested in radio and
  electrical stuff and things of that nature.He
  saw the potentials in me. He saw I enjoyed
  electricity. I enjoyed radio and stuff like that.
  He took me under his wing. And I thought an awful
  lot of this guy in a short ten months I worked
  with him. He was a prince.I prepared my whole
  life in ten months to do something.

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Mentors, Turning Points and Serendipity
(continued)

• ..Think about it. Those ten months were
  crucial in my life. Because they turned me
  around. Name of prison turned me around. Jack
  turned me around. Jack was a humanitarian and
  cared for me as an individual. Lets get down to
  brass tacks. What if Jack wasnt there? What if I
  wasnt offered the opportunity?......He treated
  me right. As a matter of fact, after I left name
  of prison year after year on a yearly basis I
  would take my wife and kids, wed drive all the
  way to name of prison to see Jack (Gilbert
  in Laub and Sampson, 2003, p. 141

32
Turning Points

• A major turning point has the potential to open
  a system the way a key has the potential to open
  a lockaction is necessary to complete the
  turning.
• (Abbott, 1997, 96-97 quoted in Laub and Sampson,
  2003, 282)

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Turning Points

• Two sources to assist in completing the
  turning
• The agency of the young person
• The support of adults
• From social network
• From professional systems

34
Examples of positive influences in the stories of
delinquent men aged 70 (Laub and Sampson)

• Marriage
• Parenthood
• Stability in employment
• Positive experiences in institutions (reform
  school , prison)

35
Examples of positive influences in the stories of
delinquent men aged 70 (Laub and Sampson)(2)

• Conversion to new value systems (Laub and
  Sampson, 2003, p. 130-134) (e.g. through
• religious faith,
• Alcoholics Anonymous,
• discipline and meaning acquired in the military
• Relationship with mentors
• Being or becoming an active player in shaping
  their own future (Laub and Sampson, 2003, p. 141)

36
Australian Care Leavers

• Judy Cashmore and Marina Paxman (2006) found
  three factors to be predictors of good outcomes
  for the young people (n47) in their four wave
  study
• the young person having a sense of felt
  security (which itself was associated with fewer
  moves)
• the young person enjoying social support after
  leaving care (most valuable it seems if coming
  from family and carers)
• and continuing to live in the same accommodation
  after the legal age limit for leaving care.

37
US Care Leavers

• Courtney et al., (2005) have explored what is
  associated with connectedness (defined in
  their study as being at work or in full time
  education) for young care -leavers?
• the young person being still in care at age 191
  (which more than doubled the chances for a young
  person of being connected in this sense when
  compared to those not still in care )
• the young person aspiring to graduate from
  college
• the young person being close to a family member
  (which doubled their chance of being
  connected)
• and the young person being satisfied with their
  care experience when they looked back on it.
• 1 Importantly, Courtney and his colleagues
  considered whether the stayers at 19 might have
  been systematically different from the leavers.
  Following their analysis of the data, they are
  confident that this is not the case especially
  since one of the three states (Illinois) on which
  the data is based actually has a care leaving age
  for all its care leavers of 19 years.

38
Points to consider

• Vulnerability may be associated particularly
  with
• Being a boy (boys/men poorer at accessing
  informal support and having a baby where
  relevant may help pull in support for a girl
  not a recommendation!)
• Leaving residential care
• Having entered care in teenage years
• Doing better may be associated with
• Continuing to live with foster carers
• Staying on in education
• The importance of the passage of time
• Things may get a bit better as the young person
  gets older

39
Vulnerable Youngsters may need more time and more
tolerance

• Real parents would try to help, even if you were
  older, and young people who have been in care
  might need more time than others to work things
  out and get themselves settled down. They need to
  kick back a bit they shouldnt be punished for
  it forever (Carrie quoted in Happer, McCreadie
  and Aldgate, 2006, p. 52)

40
Essential Mindset (1)

• Multiple Forms of Desired Outcomes (stronger,
  safer children)
• Multiple Pathways to Desired Outcomes
• Multiple Players supporting Progress on these
  Multiple Pathways
• Value lifes ordinary plenty (Patrick Kavanagh)

41
Essential Mindset (2)

• Services play only one (key) part
• Need to respect and value what other players
  bring
• Need to cultivate valued social roles for
  vulnerable young people

42
Implications for Practice and Policy- some
examples

• Seek to strengthen social networks and
  connections to siblings, other relatives,
  friends, neighbourhood etc
• Value family group conferencing and such
  approaches
• Value relative / kinship care (which gets
  favourable ratings in many studies)

43
A final thought

• What do we want / hope for as the legacy of our
  intervention when the child / young person is
• 16?
• 22?
• 30?
• A parent?

44
References

• Abbott, A. (1997) On the Concept of Turning
  Point Comparative Social Research 16, 85-105
• Ahrens, C. and Ryff, C. (2006) Multiple Roles
  and Well-being Socio-demographic and
  Psychological Moderators Sex Roles 55 801 - 815
• Arber, S. (2004) Gender, marital status and
  ageing Linking material, health, and social
  resources Journal of Aging Studies 18, 91- 108
• Brennan, E. (2007) Experience I was raised by
  the nuns Weekend Guardian, February 17
  http//www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,2013086
  ,00.html
• Cashmore, J. and Paxman, M.(2006) Predicting
  after-care outcomes the importance of felt
  security Child and Family Social Work 11, 3, 232
  241.
• Laub, J. and Sampson, R. (2003) Shared
  Beginnings, Divergent Lives Delinquent Boys to
  Age 70 Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University
  Press
• Laursen, E. and Birmingham, (2003) Caring
  Relationships as a Protective Factor for At-Risk
  Youth An Ethnographic Study Families in Society
  84, 2, 240-246
• Lewontin, R. (2000) The Triple Helix Gene,
  Organism, and Environment Mass. Harvard
  University Press
• Ronka, A., Oravala, S and Pulkinnen, L. (2002)
  I met this wife of mine and things got onto a
  better track Turning points in risk development
  Journal of Adolescence 25, 47-63
• Thoits, P. (1995) Stress, Coping and Social
  Support Processes Where Are We? What Next?
  Journal of Health and Social Behaviour (extra
  issue) 53-79
• Ungar, M. (2004) Nurturing Hidden Resilience in
  Troubled Youth Toronto University of Toronto
  Press
• Velleman, R. and Orford, J., (1999) Risk and
  Resilience Adults Who Were the Children of
  Problem Drinkers Amsterdam Harwood Academic
  Publishers