Browsing by Subject "Foster care"
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Item In the system for too long: former foster youth and the structural ambivalence towards mental health(2014-08) Baiocchi, ArturoA growing research literature documents that young people who "age out" of foster care (after turning 18 or in some states 21) frequently encounter challenging obstacles during their transition into adulthood, and in particular are susceptible to poor mental health and substance abuse problems throughout their early twenties. Drawing from an 8-month longitudinal study of 26 young people transitioning out of care, the dissertation reports on the conflicted relationship that some former foster youth have with service providers, mental health programs and ideas of seeking help more generally, during their transition out of care. The dissertation argues that many former foster youth endorse conventional health beliefs about the efficacy of mental health treatments, but are nonetheless ambivalent about re-integrating themselves with what they perceive as an inconsistent and untrustworthy system of social services and public supports. This sense of what I describe as "structural ambivalence " reflects the inconsistent and contradictory forms of support that many foster youth received while wards of the state, and underpins many of their decisions as young adults to avoid and resist prolonged engagement with social services. Structural ambivalence has implications for meso-level theories of health seeking behavior, and in particular recent frameworks that emphasize the role that social networks and culture play in shaping the dynamic engagement that young consumers have with mental health treatments. This conceptual framework also highlights the contradictory logics of welfare and public health institutions more broadly in the US, and the troubling situation that former foster youth find themselves in while navigating these public systems during their uncertain transition to adulthood.Item Mystery, Mastery, and Meaning-Making in Postsecondary Education by Adoptees and Former Foster Youth(2015-12) Drewyor, JenniferThis study investigates the experiences of being adopted and in foster care for students in postsecondary education. It is a qualitative study conducted through interviews and comparing and contrasting those interviews. Results varied, but certain themes emerged, including a need to cope with lack of information (what will be called mystery), and to integrate self and profession (what will be called mastery), as well as individualized ways of this integration (meaning-making). It became apparent through this study that there are identity and cultural hurdles that students face as they transition to adulthood while in college. The theory of Ambiguous Loss (Boss, 1999), which results from separation from biological family, is combined with the ideas of meaning-making and learning theories and used as a framework to understand the findings of the study. Recommendations are suggested for meeting the unique needs of adopted and foster care youth who are transitioning to adulthood while in college, and are based on the literature and findings from interviews. The topic of separation from biological family and the resulting ambiguous loss is an important topic in postsecondary education because there is little research at this level of the impact of questioning one's biological background, with addressing issues of identity, belonging, and power as students move through postsecondary education.Item Reunification and Behavioral Problems of American Indian Children in the Child Welfare System(2016-05) Landers, AshleyThe two studies presented in this dissertation examine outcomes for American Indian children in the child welfare system (Study 1: n = 456, Study 2: n = 3,498). Both studies are grounded in Patterson’s (2002) Family Adjustment and Adaptation Response theory and utilize baseline, 18-month, and 36-month follow-up data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being. Each study used propensity score matching and multiple logistic regression, although Study 1 incorporated the Long-Term Foster Care sample and Study 2 used the Child Protective Services sample. Study 1’s purpose was estimating the effect of race on reunification among American Indian, African American, and Caucasian children ages 2 – 15 years. Study findings suggested that reunification did not differ based on race after balancing on family demands and capabilities. Study 2’s purpose was estimating the effect of race on the probability of displaying internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems among American Indian, African American, and Caucasian children ages 2 – 16. years Findings revealed that American Indian children had an increased probability for displaying clinically significant externalizing behavior problems at 36-month follow-up. These studies suggest that, although descriptively American Indian children are less likely to reunify and are more likely to display clinically significant behavioral problems, such findings are not explained by race alone after balancing family demands and capabilities.