Stories of Care Leaving: The Experiences of a Group of Resilient Young Adults on Their Journey to Interdependent Living in Ghana

Frimpong‐Manso, Kwabena

doi:10.1177/2167696818807114

Cited by 16 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 64 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Dickens and Marx (2020) report that, though many of the care-leavers in their study were NEET, they were mostly living in formal dwelling spaces rather than informal dwellings, because many lived with their families 2 years after leaving care. Bukuluki, Kamya, Kasirye, and Nabulya (2020) and Frimpong-Manso (2020) also provide evidence of the importance of social support from family and community networks to successful care-leaving.…”

Section: Family and Sociocultural Networkmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The papers in this special issue repeatedly emphasize that despite the odds and adversities, African youth who leave care exhibit resilience by navigating toward better outcomes. Several attain high educational qualifications, are in stable marriages, and do not use drugs (Bukuluki et al, 2020; Dickens & Marx, 2020; Frimpong-Manso, 2020). The youth’s personal motivation, including their hope for the future and fear of failure, enables them to succeed during their transition.…”

Section: Resiliencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…qualitative data (Bond, 2020;Frimpong-Manso, 2020;Gwenzi, 2020;Moodley, Raniga, & Sewpaul, 2020;Takele & Kotecho, 2020), quantitative data (Dickens & Marx, 2020), and mixed methods data (Bukuluki, Kamya, Kasirye, & Nabulya, 2020;Dziro, 2020). Most of the evidence comes from residential care, but there is also a focus on nonformal kinship care, an area on which very little is written, despite being the major form of alternative care for OVC on the continent.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Leaving Care in Africa

Breda

Frimpong‐Manso

2020

Emerging Adulthood

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Many children in sub-Saharan Africa find themselves without adequate parental care, resulting from growing levels of poverty, disease (e.g., Aids and Ebola), harmful cultural norms, conflict, and trafficking, among others. In Africa, most orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) are taken care by the relatives and other community members, but this traditional system is under stress, and many OVC end up on their own on the streets or in child-headed households (Leinaweaver, 2014). Others enter the formal alternative care system (also known as foster or out-of-home care) provided through residential care facilities known by different names, such as orphanages, child and youth care centers, or children's homes. Recent estimates suggest that about 2.7 million children are in formal care globally, of which about 11% live in sub-Saharan Africa (Petrowski, Cappa, & Gross, 2017). However, many more children are unaccounted for in unregistered facilities run by nongovernmental organizations dotted across the continent (Milligan, Withington, Connelly, & Gale, 2016). Because reunification services are absent, there is a limited improvement in the conditions of their families, resulting in many children being in long-term care. However, youth in alternative care must leave at some point, usually at 18 years, to make a life on their own. Their transition to adulthood is atypical to the normative trend. Young people in the wider population are staying longer with their parents to deal with the demands of emerging adulthood, the developmental stage between the ages of 18 and 26 years. Despite care-leavers becoming a growing vulnerable population in Africa, they are neglected in policy, practice, and research agendas (Pinkerton, 2011). Evidence from Africa is conspicuously missing in the international literature that is dominated by countries of the Global North, such as the UK and the United States (Mann

show abstract

Section: Family and Sociocultural Networkmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Resiliencementioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Leaving Care in Africa

Breda

Frimpong‐Manso

2020

Emerging Adulthood

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…By contrast, and bearing in mind the unavailability or inadequacy of data in Africa (Cameron, Hauari, & Arisi, 2018), it seems that most children in Africa enter the care system because of the inability of macro-level systems (clans and communities) to provide adequate care. Frimpong-Manso (2020), for example, mentions that most children in residential care in Ghana are there because of economic difficulties in the family/clan (also Frimpong-Manso, 2014). Given the relatively small numbers of children in care in most African countries, it is likely that the family/clan continues to care for the majority of vulnerable children, but that when the clan’s capacity is exhausted, children are taken up by children’s homes.…”

Section: Writing and Reading As Components Of Dialoguementioning

confidence: 99%

Raising African Voices in the Global Dialogue on Care-Leaving and Emerging Adulthood

Breda

Pinkerton

2019

Emerging Adulthood

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Globalization of knowledge and scholarship raises the challenges of dialogue between Global North and South. Northern knowledge and voice remain privileged, while writing from the South often goes unread. This is true also in emerging adulthood and care-leaving scholarship. The special issue of Emerging Adulthood titled “Care-Leaving in Africa” is the first collection of essays on care-leaving by African scholars. It presents both care-leaving and emerging adulthood scholars from the Global North a unique opportunity to consider the implications of a rising African voice for global dialogue. This article, coauthored by scholars from North and South, argues in favor of North–South dialogue but highlights several challenges inherent in this, including the indigenizing and thus marginalizing of African experience and scholarship and divergent constructions of key social concepts. The authors argue the need for mutually respectful discourse between North and South and present specific recommendations for fostering such global dialogue.

show abstract

“…Moreover, shifts in the service delivery infrastructure will likely benefit all young people, not just those with cross-system involvement. Although Arnett’s features of emerging adulthood may be contested, researchers routinely acknowledge the structural facilitators that give rise to feelings of instability, self-focus, and optimism reported among emerging adults (Arnett, 2016; Berzin & De Marco, 2010; Frimpong-Manso, 2020). Offering structural supports, such as career services, basic needs, and financial stability, would benefit those who are most vulnerable while also providing a safety net for all young people navigating the complexity of emerging adulthood.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward Many Emerging Adulthoods: A Theory-Based Examination of the Features of Emerging Adulthood for Cross-Systems Youth

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although it is widely acknowledged that emerging adulthood is experienced differently by various groups, few studies have directly examined the theoretical features of emerging adulthood in vulnerable subpopulations of low-income young people in the United States. This study addressed this gap by exploring the salience of the five features proposed in emerging adulthood theory—identity exploration, instability, feeling in-between, sense of self-focus, and optimism for the future—for cross-systems youth. Two samples from prior qualitative studies of young people age 18–24 who had experienced homelessness, child welfare involvement, and/or educational disadvantage were combined for the analysis ( N = 50). We noted important divergences and nuances in the ways in which the theoretical features resonated with the sample. For example, most participants sought financial stability and independence, rather than identity and career exploration. The findings speak to the importance of further research to establish features of emerging adulthood in diverse populations.

show abstract

Stories of Care Leaving: The Experiences of a Group of Resilient Young Adults on Their Journey to Interdependent Living in Ghana

Cited by 16 publications

References 64 publications

Leaving Care in Africa

Leaving Care in Africa

Raising African Voices in the Global Dialogue on Care-Leaving and Emerging Adulthood

Toward Many Emerging Adulthoods: A Theory-Based Examination of the Features of Emerging Adulthood for Cross-Systems Youth

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About