Twenty-first century contact: the use of mobile communication devices and the internet by young people in care

Abstract

This article contributes to the growing area of research appertaining to the use of mobile communication devices and the internet by children in care in order to maintain contact with family and friends. It is based on a triadic method of semi-structured interviews with 12 young people and their foster carers and social work practitioners. The study found that the young people were not passive recipients of their familial and friendship networks and did not deem their interactions as 'contact', perceiving them more as 'staying in touch'. The opportunities provided for this by the new technology enabled immediacy, reach and communication in real time and duration-all features that allowed them to control the 'who, how and when' of their relationships. But despite the potential of the new communication methods to bring cohesion between young people and their relatives, it was not utilised or supported by their foster carers or social work practitioners who tended to view this new channel of communication as a risk or a nuisance.

Are you listening? Echoing the voices of looked after children about their transition to secondary school

“…Foster carers often play a significant role in supporting their child’s friendships during their time at primary school. This must continue during the school holidays through face-to-face contact, inviting friends into their home, or via the safe use of technology and social media (Simpson, 2020). Supporting and maintaining friendships helps to develop the child’s social skills, which will be invaluable for building new relationships at secondary school.…”

A brief history of contact in fostering and adoption: practice and power, and the coming of the mobile phone

“…To summarise, one of the authors of this article has published frequently on the use of social media by fostered children to maintain contact with their birth families (Simpson, 2013; 2016; 2017; 2020). Simpson’s studies explain the diverse and inventive uses by children of social media to develop, initiate and maintain links between themselves and their family networks.…”

“…Simpson concludes that when it comes to the management and exercise of control over contact, especially for adolescent and teenage children, the genie is well and truly out of the bottle: it is nigh impossible to exercise any meaningful control over the use of social media by looked after children (in the same way as this is proving impossible in families in general with no experience of care). We posit that Narey (2011; 2018) and others who suggest that contact ought not to be presumed, speak from an analogue world that fails to appreciate the continuing sense of psychological connectedness that children and young people in care have with their families (Boddy, et al., 2013), and how the use of the internet and mobile communication devices assists with this (Greenhow, et al, 2017; Howard, 2012; Macdonald, et al., 2016; Simpson 2020). The disruption to face-to-face contact caused by COVID 19 makes such appreciation even more pressing.…”

“…Rather than bewailing the widespread use of social media by children and young people in care and warning of the dangers (see for instance, Fursland, 2010), the advent of social media and its extensive use by these young people ought to be actively encouraged. This is said with a view to supporting relationships that can be viewed as beneficial in the sense of maintaining connections with the birth family and significant others (Greenhow, 2017; Macdonald, et al., 2016; Simpson, 2020).…”

“…A Brief History of Contact in Fostering and Adoption: Practice and Power, and The Coming of the Mobile Phone Introduction This paper builds on a recent contribution to Adoption & Fostering by one of the authors that adds to the growing area of research on the use of mobile communication devices and the internet by children in care in order to maintain contact with family and friends (Simpson, 2020). The author's research found that the young people in her study were not passive recipients of their familial and friendship networks and did not deem their interactions as 'contact', perceiving them more as 'staying in touch'.…”