Abstract
This paper explores the cultural and biographical specificity of home by examining the connections between young people's experiences of out-of-home care and their definitions of home. The paper draws on 77 in-depth interviews with young people who had lived away from their families in the Australian out-of-home care system. The paper applies a psycho-social conceptualisation of ‘home’ to argue that home was a crucial symbol through which these young people imagined a less challenging future and claimed identities of ‘being normal’. The majority remembered their time in out-of-home care as a time of instability and insecurity in terms of both housing and relationships; they did not feel at home in these contexts. These histories informed young people's experiences and imagining of home and their sense of identity within and after out-of-home care, as they defined home as fundamentally different from out-of-home care. Their definitions incorporated shelter, emotional well-being, control, routine, caring relationships and stability.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 123-138 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Housing Studies |
Volume | 30 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 2015 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2 Jan 2015 |
Keywords
- foster care
- Home
- ontological security
- out-of-home care
- placement instability