Suchergebnisse

Earlier articles by Robbie Gilligan have argued the case for the value of participation in spare time activities for young people in care, in terms of its potential to enhance their resilience (Gilligan, 1999, 2000). Here he focuses specifically on how such participation in spare time activities may contribute to positive educational progress for the young person in care. First, evidence is examined as to what, if any, impact such participation may have for the educational achievement of young people in general. Attention then narrows to the possible educational impact for more vulnerable young people, and for young people in care. Two issues are considered: (1) why and how participation may support educational progress for young people in care; and (2) what it may be useful for adults to do in terms of supporting and eliciting any positive educational effects of participation in activities.

In this paper, Robbie Gilligan sets out to highlight questions about the role and experiences of men as foster carers in fostering couples.1 The sparse literature relevant to the topic is reviewed; some of the therapeutic and practical reasons for the significance of the man's role in foster care are considered; findings from a small exploratory study of male foster carers and their role are presented; and certain policy implications arising are discussed. The author has been a foster carer himself.

The article begins by challenging what is considered to be the relative neglect by child and family social work of the importance for children of school and teachers. Key roles of school in children's lives are conceptualized. School is argued to have potential as an ally for children, a guarantor of basic protection, a capacity builder, a secure base from which to explore the self and the world, an integrator into community and culture, a gateway to adult opportunities and a resource for parents and communities. It is suggested that school can have a special supportive value for children experiencing adversity, including those in state care or under supervision, those whose parents have divorced, and those recovering from abuse or neglect. The implications of the central importance of schools and teachers for child and family social work are discussed with reference to the child as client, work with teachers, work with the wider school and community, and policies in social work agencies and in education and training programmes for social workers and teachers.

Permanence has long been regarded as a key element in child placement planning and practice. While upholding its benefits, Robbie Gilligan argues that reliance on permanence as a guiding framework has gone too far. Instead he advocates a shift towards a resilience-based perspective which embraces the positive aspects of the permanence framework but more accurately reflects the complexity of child care problems and needs.

Research examining the low educational attainment of children in care and care leavers tends to underuse social theory (Berridge, 2007). To contribute to addressing this gap, we use life course theory to explore the role of agency in shaping the educational pathways of 18 Irish adults (aged 24–36 years) with care experience. Findings suggest that agency is a valuable conceptual tool for examining the nuance and complexity of how individual actions shape the education of care‐experienced adults throughout the life course and interact with contextual and structural factors over time.