Relationships Matter: Understanding the Role and Impact of Social Networks at the Edge of Transition to Adulthood from Care


Article de revue

Contributeurs:

État de publication: Publiée (2017 )

Nom de la revue: Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal

Volume: 34

Numéro: 6

Intervalle de pages: 573-582

URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313448162_Relationships_Matter_Understanding_the_Role_and_Impact_of_Social_Networks_at_the_Edge_of_Transition_to_Adulthood_from_Care

Résumé: Several factors have recently contributed to a growing recognition that the transition to adulthood is an important and often stressful turning point in life. Transition is a multidimensional concept characterized by “change of stage, from one situation to another, from one period to another or from one status or role to another” (Gherghel and Saint-Jacques 2013, p. 18). The transition from youth to adulthood is characterized by identity exploration, instability, self-focus, possibilities and the feeling of being in between (Arnett 2006, 2007). It is also an age of increased independence and decreased parental support (Sulimani-Aidan 2015). Furthermore, it is a period characterized by the need for support and guidance from supportive adults (Paulsen and Berg 2016). Today, for most youth, traditional transition markers (for instance, completing an educational degree, finding employment and attaining financial independence, forming a family and moving to an independent dwelling) occur later than for previous generations (Bidart 2006; Furlong 2009; Molgat 2012). There has been a shift away from youth transition to adulthood being understood as a linear process directed towards conventional goals to an acknowledgement of the de-standardization of the transition process, which involves nonlinear and fragmented movements between dependence and independence, and individualized trajectories (Bidart 2006; Bynner 2005; Furlong et al. 2006; Molgat 2012; Rogers 2011). However, transition to adulthood appears to be different and more challenging for youths under state care and in out-of-home care facilities at the time of the transition, regardless of different countries’ legislative contexts (Courtney and Dworsky 2006; Mendes et al. 2014; Stein 2008; Stein et al. 2011; Stott 2013).