Carme Montserrat

Delayed educational pathways and risk of social exclusion: the case of young people from public care in Spain

It is assumed that education may be one of the key aspects in preventing social exclusion and that children in both residential and family foster care would seem to be at risk of exclusion due to unequal opportunities in compulsory and post-compulsory education, particularly when leaving care. On the basis of findings from a European research project, this article examines the educational pathways in Spain among 18–22 year olds who were in care at 16. The qualitative results presented here were taken from initial and follow-up interviews with young people from a public care background, interviews with care managers and nominated adults—mainly social educators. Results showed that delays in educational pathways were frequent among these young people, even those who showed educational promise and were highly motivated. Factors associated with such delays were related to (1) professionals and managers in the child protection system not prioritising their education; (2) low expectations among adults providing them with support; (3) invisibility within the educational system of the specific support needs of this population and (4) additional difficulties this population encounters in the transition to adulthood. If policies are to be developed to address all of the above factors, it is crucial to assess what urgent changes are required to empower the potential human and social capital of this population, increase equality in their educational opportunities and reduce their high risk of social exclusion.

Subjective well‐being: what do adolescents say?

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to analyse how 10‐ to 15‐year‐old adolescents define their own perceptions of well‐being and the factors influencing it at their age. Ten focus groups were organized, two from each age group. One group for each age included the students with the lowest scores in subjective well‐being (SWB) and the other included those with the highest, according to their responses to previously administered psychometric scales. The views of the participating adolescents were explored by means of a content analysis. In general, the children mentioned both positive and negative elements of participating in defining what constitutes well‐being. According to these children, well‐being is related to both affects and attitudes, relations with family and friends being key factors in it. Differences in the information provided reveal some variations according to age and SWB score. Children scoring lower in SWB tend to refer more to relationships with friends and basic needs covered, whereas those scoring higher tend to refer more to family relationships and not having problems. The results of this research can contribute to both social policy design and appraisal as they provide an in‐depth understanding of how SWB works at these ages.

Desigualdad de oportunidades educativas entre los adolescentes en acogimiento residencial y familiar

Resumen La emergencia de nuevos datos y resultados de investigaciones, en algunos países europeos, sobre los itinerarios formativos reglados de las personas que, en algún momento de su infancia, estuvieron en atención residencial o acogimiento familiar constituye el contexto del presente estudio. Con el objetivo de conocer la situación escolar de los adolescentes que se encuentran en acogimiento residencial, en familia extensa o ajena, se analiza el nivel escolar, la asistencia a clase y el comportamiento en la escuela de una muestra de 265 adolescentes de Cataluña bajo medida protectora. Los resultados nos señalan, por un lado, que el conjunto de la población tutelada se encuentra en una situación claramente peor en todos los aspectos estudiados en comparación con la población general; por otro lado, de entre todos los tutelados, se observa una clara desventaja de los jóvenes en atención residencial. Las diferencias apreciadas, tanto con la población general, como entre los que están en los distintos recursos del sistema de protección, nos muestran la importancia de seguir recogiendo datos de forma sistemática, y la necesidad de implementar urgentemente programas para paliar la desigualdad educativa de este subconjunto de la población, que tiene raíces sociales y psicosociales.

Jóvenes que estuvieron en el sistema de protección social a la infancia: Reflexiones a partir de una investigación realizada en Girona, España

Research on residential care is still scarce despite its high implementation in Spain. This article presents the results of a research using qualitative methods. The study analyses the situation experienced by young people who lived in foster care in the province of Girona (1994-2002) based on their opinions and perceptions expressed in a semi-structured interview. The results, clustered into subcategories, show lack of knowledge about the reasons why they needed foster care, if it was better being there than staying with their parents, and the lack of support for transition to adulthood. The study shows implications for children and youth policies, professional practice and research

The education of children and adolescents in out-of-home care: a problem or an opportunity? Results of a longitudinal study

ABSTRACT The education of children in care is an issue that often falls into a no man’s land in which responsibility always seems to be attributed to the other ‘department’. Furthermore, all too often, teachers, educators and foster parents find themselves working with these children with no support, as if they were isolated cases. The aim of this study is to get to know the school situation of children in different types of out-of-home care: residential, kinship and non-kinship care. Systematic data on the school situation of 11–16-year-olds (on class attendance, school behaviour, academic results and guidance towards post-compulsory education) were gathered over a period of 5 consecutive school years. A 3-year longitudinal study on the same items (N = 391) was made and time-series data were gathered for 5 years (N = 1841). Results show that the in-care population is at a clear disadvantage and inequality of opportunities compared to the general population in relation to their educational pathways and outcomes; the most disadvantaged being the population in residential care. Recommendations are included, posing the challenge that what has to date been considered a ‘problem’ should become an opportunity for these children.

Children’s Subjective Well-Being in Disadvantaged Situations

This study explores the differences in subjective well-being (SWB) between young adolescents living in disadvantaged situations and the general population of the same age, using data from a large representative sample (N = 5,381) of Spanish first year secondary students (mean age 12.08). Self-administered questionnaires were used at (randomly selected) schools to measure the Domains Satisfaction General Index (DSGI), calculated using the arithmetic mean of 8 indices for life domains. We also calculated different dimensions of poverty (education, satisfaction with home, subjective poverty and material conditions) from a multidimensional perspective using the fuzzy method. All of the analysed dimensions are negative predictors for the DSGI and a MANOVA reveals significant differences between the means of those children who consider themselves poorer and those of children who perceive themselves wealthier than others, for all of the dimensions studied. The discussion on which contextual factors influence subjective well-being and how this varies between sub-groups of children has important implications for policy, research and practice.

Effective social education of exclusion: contributions from social pedagogy

The objective of this research was to identify effective strategies for socio-educational intervention with adolescents aged 12–16 years in a situation of social risk and provide some proposals from the field of social pedagogy. The research was conducted in three autonomous regions of Spain—Madrid, Galicia and Catalonia—between 2011 and 2013 and used the grounded theory approach. Thirty one practitioners and 19 adolescents participated in the focus groups and interviews. The main results suggest central strategies related to the empowerment and participation of adolescents, resilience and the flexible planning of interventions, with relevant implications for practice and policies.

Estressores psicossociais, senso de comunidade e bem-estar subjetivo em crianças e adolescentes de zonas urbanas e rurais do Nordeste do Brasil

The studys overall objective was to investigate the relationship between psychosocial stressors, sense of community, and subjective wellbeing in urban and rural schoolchildren in Northeast Brazil, focusing on differences according to territorial context. The sample consisted of 757 participants, 495 from urban schools and 262 from rural schools, enrolled in the 6th and 7th grades (9 to 18 years of age) in 21 municipal and state public schools, of which 13 urban and 8 rural, in 7 municipalities (counties) in Ceará State, Brazil. The study instruments were inventory of stressful events, scale of life satisfaction for students, index of sense of community, and satisfaction indices by life domains (family, material goods, relations, neighborhood/zone, health, time, school, and personal). The results indicate that socioeconomically underprivileged public schoolchildren from urban areas are more exposed to daily stress and score lower on satisfaction in specific domains of life and on sense of community. This latter is an important indicator for evaluating wellbeing in this young population.O objetivo geral do estudo e investigar a relacao existente entre eventos estressores cotidianos, senso de comunidade e bem-estar subjetivo em alunos de escolas urbanas e rurais do Nordeste do Brasil, focando nas diferencas por contexto territorial. A amostra esta formada por 757 participantes, 495 alunos de escolas urbanas e 262 de escolas rurais, dos 6o e 7o anos (9 a 18 anos) de 21 escolas publicas municipais e estaduais, 13 urbanas e 8 rurais, de 7 municipios do Ceara, Brasil. Os instrumentos utilizados foram: inventario de eventos estressores, escala de satisfacao com a vida para estudantes, indice de senso de comunidade e oito indices de satisfacao por âmbitos da vida (familia, bens materiais, relacoes, bairro/zona, saude, tempo, escola, pessoal). Os resultados indicam que os alunos das escolas publicas (desfavorecidos socioeconomicamente) de contextos urbanos estao mais expostos ao estresse cotidiano, pontuam mais baixo em satisfacao com âmbitos especificos da vida e senso de comunidade, sendo este ultimo um indicador importante na avaliacao do bem-estar da populacao estudada.

What role do children play in social services

Greater emphasis is being placed on developing policies that provide services based on the users perspective and this includes the perspective of childrens rights. This study analyses professional practices in interventions involving children and families at 40 Social Services Centres in Barcelona with a view to identifying the degree of child participation. Taking into account the perspective of the different stakeholders, i.e., practitioners as providers and children and families as users, we implemented a mixed methodological research design: data analysis from the city council database (N=56,468); quantitative data collection based on a questionnaire directed to practitioners (N=225); qualitative data collection based on interviews with adults and children (N=39); focus groups made up of practitioners (N=30), and user satisfaction surveys directed to adults (N=280) and children (N=120). We use triangulation for data analysis. Results indicated low child participation, lack of clarity regarding work methods and professional profiles, and problems in evaluating outcomes. Perceptions differed greatly depending on the sources consulted, and this could have implications for policy and practice.

Cómo influye el sistema de protección en el bienestar subjetivo de los adolescentes que acoge

Subjective well-being is an essential component of quality of life. Little is known about subjective well-being of children and even less about vulnerable groups such as adolescents in care. This paper aims at studying how the child protection system influences the subjective well-being of the adolescents in care on the basis of their own perceptions, evaluations and satisfactions. The cross-sectional research was carried out in Catalonia and the study population included adolescents between 12 and 14 years old in residential care (n = 379) and in kinship care (n = 219). We used the International Survey of Children’s Well-Being questionnaire (ISCWeB) that includes three psychometric scales: Overall Life Satisfaction (OLS), Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS) and Personal Well-Being Index (PWI), understood as subjective well-being indicators. The majority of adolescents in kinship care were satisfied with the type of placement, but only half of those who live in residential centres. The adolescents who have stayed longer in the same type of placement, those who live in small centres and those who are satisfied with their carers, educators and peers from residential centres, showed higher scores in their subjective well-being. Stability and emotional bonds with carers and educators are key factors to their well-being.