‘We are the same as everyone else just with a different and unique backstory’: Identity, belonging and ‘othering’ within education for young people who are ‘looked after’

Abstract

BACKGROUND Research conducted in the UK over the last 25 years has highlighted that children and young people in the 'looked after' system face significant educational disadvantage in comparison with their nonlooked after peers (Jackson, 2010; Sebba et al., 2015). This includes, but is not limited to, higher rates of exclusions from school, lower levels of achievements in standardised tests and poorer progression rates onto further and higher education (Ofsted, 2012). Such evidence is not limited to the English

Stigmatized: In/Forming identities of children in Care

“…Because students were aware of and feared the stigma associated with being identified as in care, they also expressed wanting to be treated the same, or as "normal" (Jackson et al, 2020;Jones et al, 2020;Ridge and Millar, 2000;Rogers, 2017). In attempts to "refuse the label," youth often engaged in what Jones at al.…”

“…Because students were aware of and feared the stigma associated with being identified as in care, they also expressed wanting to be treated the same, or as "normal" (Jackson et al, 2020;Jones et al, 2020;Ridge and Millar, 2000;Rogers, 2017). In attempts to "refuse the label," youth often engaged in what Jones at al. (2020) called "strategic identity management," in which students would attempt to hide their status of being in care (Dansey et al, 2018(Dansey et al, , 2019Ferguson and Wolkow, 2012;Fernandez, 2008;Jones et al, 2020).…”

“…In attempts to "refuse the label," youth often engaged in what Jones at al. (2020) called "strategic identity management," in which students would attempt to hide their status of being in care (Dansey et al, 2018(Dansey et al, , 2019Ferguson and Wolkow, 2012;Fernandez, 2008;Jones et al, 2020). As students "actively managed their spoiled identity" (Rogers, 2017(Rogers, : 1088, they attempted to control how and when to the disclose their in-care status to peers.…”

“…Stigmatization affects how children and youth in care view themselves, as well as how others view them, a nasty chicken-and-egg cycle of shame and judgment. In other words, stigma creates a perception that children in care are different and not normal (Jones et al, 2020; Ridge and Millar, 2000; Rogers, 2017), which negatively impacts children in care because of the damaging effects of this internalized oppression (Dansey et al, 2019; Rogers, 2017).…”

“…It appears that the rules and processes surrounding children in care generate stigma and social differences (Ridge and Millar, 2000). In part, this is due to ways in which their lives are “professionalized,” meaning that children in care are part of “highly formalised protocols and procedures in place that marked them out as Other” (Jones et al, 2020: 9). According to Jones et al, the extensive meetings, additional forms, and bureaucratic processes that surround children in care institutional and corporatize what for other students would simply be parenting, subsequently distancing them from their peers.…”