Relevance of the social support network for the emancipation of young adults leaving residential care

Abstract

Introduction: This work studies the situation of young people after leaving residential care when they become of age. We have analysed, specifically, one of the most relevant factors for the emancipation: the perception of the social support network. Method: This is a descriptive quantitative study. To this end, a questionnaire (C4) was created and validated with experts, it has open and closed questions distributed in eight dimensions: housing and accommodation, family, social and affective relations, health, training, labour integration and economic management and residential life. The participants of the study are included in the Preparation Plan for Independent Living of the Community of Madrid and are equivalent to the 70% of the total population. Results: The results show that the social network comes from the centre and other care institutions, followed by friends from the neighbourhood and schools and high schools; there are some cases of social isolation. In regard of the social support that they identify, they perceive help from educators and friends, to a lesser extent from the family, whose support is mainly material, and from the couple; both being valued as unstable sources of help. New networks appear with the creation of a new family through maternity, considering that it undermines their autonomy much more than it facilitates it. The quality of the relationships with those who live with them has special relevance in their subjective well-being evaluation. Discussion or Conclusion: Young people look up for figures who have a real interest in their lives, people who listen to them and accompany them with relative independence of the context from which they come: family, community, school, residential, etc. Therefore, with regard to educational intervention, facilitating interdependence and working towards the attainment and maintenance of a social network, even if it is made up of only one or two people, are guarantees of a satisfactory intervention that favours their well-being.

“Who has my back?”: Social convoys and loneliness in Slovenian adolescents living in residential youth care group homes

“…Findings of this study elucidated less favourable social convoys in RYC youth compared with the general population and the role of the relationship quality in adolescents' loneliness, which calls for increased attention to measures that enhance RYC adolescents' supportive relationships with adults and peers. Fostering adolescents' social convoys could have short‐term benefits for their psychosocial functioning and contribute positively to their well‐being after leaving RYC (Campos et al, 2020). Specifically, interventions involving social emotional learning and social skills training have been effective in reducing various negative outcomes and enhancing positive outcomes (e.g., Bradshaw et al, 2012; Cook et al, 2008).…”

Evaluación de la acción socioeducativa con jóvenes de protección en programas de tránsito a la vida adulta

“…Es importante, por último, hacer referencia a las dimensiones puntuadas de forma más baja por los tres grupos (JRR, JVI, ERF), las relativas a la formación para la 'mejora en las relaciones familiares' y la 'búsqueda y gestión de la vivienda'. En cuanto a la primera, el propio mecanismo de protección y las características, complejas y muchas veces conflictivas de estos núcleos familiares, suponen en sí una parte de la explicación, dada la dificultad para procurar acciones socioeducativas eficaces (Cameron et al, 2018;Campos et al, 2020;Duineveld et al, 2017). En relación con la búsqueda y gestión de la vivienda, estos resultados coinciden con las conclusiones de diferentes investigaciones, cuyos resultados muestran los efectos poco significativos de las actuaciones referidas a la gestión de la vivienda, ligadas en gran medida a factores socioeconómicos que requieren de recursos financieros importantes (Comasòlivas et al, 2018;Komljenovic, 2020).…”

Young People’s Autonomy and Psychological Well-Being in the Transition to Adulthood: A Pathway Analysis

“…In Europe alone, more than a million minors live in residential facilities or with foster families (Cameron et al, 2018). Many of these adolescents transition prematurely to adulthood without benefitting from the trial-and-error period common to other adolescents who enjoy family support (López et al, 2013;Munson et al, 2013;Soldevila et al, 2013;Singer and Berzin, 2014;Settersten et al, 2015;Campos et al, 2020). In addition, they display very different ways of coping with social interactions, some of which involve professional care workers (Schofield et al, 2016).…”