Pregnancy and parenthood among young people in and leaving care: what are the influencing factors, and what makes a difference in providing support? (original) (raw)
Related papers
2015
Debbie is a lecturer and lead for the children's nursing field at the University of Manchester. Prior to this she co-led the child health research team CYP@Salford, taking the lead for research on health (particularly sexual health) and social care issues affecting young people. She is a qualitative researcher with experience in mixed methods and her research expertise and interests are in participatory, qualitative research with vulnerable young people. Debbie has completed research projects related to the health and wellbeing of young carers, looked after children and young people, young mental health service users, and neglected children. She has also led and collaborated on several projects related to sexual health and service access for young people, support for teenage parents, and with young people who have been sexually exploited.
Young mothers and the care system: Contextualizing risk and vulnerability
British Journal of Social Work, 2007
Although the UK has the highest levels of teenage pregnancy in Western Europe, and while adolescent mothering has received considerable recent attention from researchers, there is a paucity of research literature about the particular experiences of young women who become mothers in or following local authority care. Findings from our empirical study reveal the significance of risk and vulnerability faced by a group of fifty-five young mothers following their exit from care. This paper explores the impact of risk and vulnerability and also highlights that although pregnancy may not be a planned activity, young women demonstrate choice and rationality in their decision to become mothers.
Teenage Pregnancy among Young People in and Leaving Care: Messages and Implications for Foster Care
Adoption & Fostering, 2006
Previous research has shown that looked after children and young people are vulnerable to poor life outcomes, including early pregnancy. Abigail Knight, Elaine Chase and Peter Aggleton discuss findings from a Department of Health-funded study on teenage pregnancy among young people in and leaving care. Using in-depth interviews, data were collected from 63 recently looked after young people aged 15 to 24 and from 78 associated professionals from a range of backgrounds, across four research sites. This paper focuses specifically on young people's experiences of foster care and the interface between foster care and the emotional influences surrounding pregnancy, opportunities for and challenges to learning about sex and relationships, and the provision of support during pregnancy and early parenthood. Findings suggest the need to provide foster carers with support, training and guidance concerning relevant and appropriate education for young people with regard to sex and relations...
Where Is the Village? Care Leaver Early Parenting, Social Isolation and Surveillance Bias
International Journal on Child Maltreatment: Research, Policy and Practice
Young people transitioning from out-of-home care (termed care leavers) are known to be a relatively vulnerable group. One example is their over-representation in early pregnancy and parenting. This paper presents findings from a study of care leaver early parenting in the Australian state of Victoria. Sixteen service provider staff working with care leavers who had become young parents were asked, via focus groups and interviews, for their perspectives on the factors that influence the high prevalence of early parenting amongst care leavers, and the key support services that are available and necessary to assist both care leavers and their children. Service providers raised multiple issues common to the existing leaving care literature concerning the lack of support provided to young people being exited from state care as potentially leading to both early parenting and parenting challenges. Service providers also expressed concern about what many studies of care leaver early parenting have termed 'surveillance bias'. There was a clear consensus that young people transitioning from care face unique challenges and social isolation due to their difficult experiences pre-care, in-care and post-care. Those experiences place them at risk of disadvantages that impede their ability to demonstrate the practical, physical and financial means to safely raise children. At the same time, they are under greater scrutiny than other parents by being known to child protection already. Service providers argued in favour of greater support for young care leaver parents to prevent their children's engagement with child protection systems. Keywords Out-of-home care • Young people • Early pregnancy and parenting
Tackling the problem of teenage pregnancy in looked after children: a peer mentoring approach"
Child & Family Social Work
Teenage pregnancy is associated with adverse health and social outcomes, even after adjusting for prior disadvantage, and is recognised as a major public health issue. Rates of teenage pregnancy in the UK are among the highest in Europe. Interventions introduced in the past decade to address the problem, such as improved sex and relationships education in schools, have been accompanied by a fall in teenage pregnancy rates in the UK. However this decline has not been mirrored amongst looked after children; in this paper we discuss why this may be the case. We suggest that a system of peer mentoring, involving a young person, whose experience of life post-care has been positive, may be an effective approach to tackling the problem of pregnancy in this group. Peer mentoring has the potential to assist young people in developing self-esteem, confidence, and in making choices regarding their education, personal development and relationships.
Tacking the problem of Teenage Pregnancy in Looked After children- a peer mentoring approach
Teenage pregnancy is associated with adverse health and social outcomes, even after adjusting for prior disadvantage, and is recognized as a major public health issue. Rates of teenage pregnancy in the UK are among the highest in Europe. Interventions introduced in the past decade to address the problem, such as improved sex and relationships education in schools, have been accompanied by a fall in teenage pregnancy rates in the UK. However, this decline has not been mirrored among looked-after children. In this paper, we discuss why this may be the case.We suggest that a system of peer mentoring, involving a young person, whose experience of life post-care has been positive, may be an effective approach to tackling the problem of pregnancy in this group. Peer mentoring has the potential to assist young people in developing self-esteem, confidence and in making choices regarding their education, personal development and relationships.