Community? What do you mean? An investigation into how differing understandings of the term 'community' shapes care leavers' move to independence.

社区？

• 批准号: AH/J012092/1
• 负责人: Sarah Goldingay
• 金额: $ 4.07万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2012 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FJ012092%2F1
• 关键词: Community; What; do; mean; investigation

On face value, community seems like a simple word: one that we all understand. But, if we start to ask questions about how we or others might think about their own communities, or the idea of community in a wider sense, we begin to realise that it is far from straight forward. Instead, it can stand for a complex range of social, political, religious and economic networks of people, places and concerns. How we think about it is shaped by our own life experience.The project concerns two different communities who are working together to create a new community. The research team will be collaborating with Devon County Council's Children in Care Scheme [DCCCCS], and the young people they work with, to better understand a crucial moment in these young peoples lives: the time when they leave care to live as independent adults. Young people who are in care have been ejected by their communities. They have left their birth families and, through the process of being fostered, are often removed from the immediate community they grew up in. This leads to changes in schools, the ending of friendship groups and links with birth family members. These transitions are problematic, and tend to be a chaotic period of time. When these same young people then leave foster care to live independently this rite of passage is particularly challenging. Their disrupted and often traumatic early lives mean they are operating from an insecure emotional base, and struggle to build positive and safe relationships in new communities. Moreover, for most of these children, leaving care is a very final event with no option to return 'home' if they face challenging situations. In response, their tendency is to seek out others who share their life experience. This often results in communities who share powerful and potentially overwhelming emotional needs, and who can find themselves unable to give or receive what is needed. These new communities can often be unstable and become a place of conflict. During this time, in addition to issues caused by a lack of independent living skills, research has shown care leavers commonly experience three difficulties in securing their independence: isolation from former communities, accommodation breakdown due to problem behaviour and wider problems around mental/emotional health which impacts on their ability to cope with independent living. In this situation the young people's notion of community, and how they find a new community to move into is tested, often to the point of collapse. This case study will work with both groups to better understand the processes at work and facilitate a proactive evaluation of that is taking place. It will then become the spine of a review which seeks to enable the academy and policy makers to gain a clearer understanding of how vulnerable, young people think about community and how this shapes how they see themselves.This project will have four phases to examine what is happening during this transition to independence. (1) It will interview both the young people and DCCCCS team members about their understanding of community and contextualise this by critiquing contextualising documentation used by policy makers (a process that will be repeated in the second, third and fourth phases). (2) It will use this data to facilitate a series of workshops and seminars facilitated by Exstream Theatre Company (specialists working with 'at risk' youth) tailored to meet the differing needs of (i) the young people and (ii) the DCCCCS team. These will lead to (i) a performance and (ii) a report tailored towards service providers about the idea of community. (3) A two-day seminar will brings the two groups together: the young people will perform their work, the DCCCCS team will present on their paper and collectively we will reflect on our experience, evaluate the process and plan for future collaborations. (4) We will reflect upon and share our findings via the review and papers.

从表面上看，社区似乎是一个简单的词：一个我们都理解的词。但是，如果我们开始询问我们或其他人如何看待自己的社区，或者更广泛意义上的社区概念，我们就会开始意识到这远非直截了当。相反，它可以代表由人员、地点和关注点组成的一系列复杂的社会、政治、宗教和经济网络。我们如何看待它是由我们自己的生活经历决定的。该项目涉及两个不同的社区，他们正在共同努力创建一个新的社区。该研究小组将与德文县议会的儿童看护计划 [DCCCCS] 以及与他们一起工作的年轻人合作​​，以更好地了解这些年轻人生活中的关键时刻：他们离开看护机构作为独立成年人生活的时间。接受护理的年轻人被他们的社区驱逐。他们离开了自己的出生家庭，并且在被寄养的过程中，常常被从他们成长的直接社区中带走。这导致了学校的变化、友谊团体的结束以及与出生家庭成员的联系。这些转变是有问题的，并且往往是一段混乱的时期。当这些年轻人离开寄养机构独立生活时，这一成人仪式尤其具有挑战性。他们的早年生活被打乱且经常遭受创伤，这意味着他们的情感基础不安全，并且难以在新社区中建立积极和安全的关系。此外，对于大多数儿童来说，离开看护机构是最后的事件，如果他们面临挑战性的情况，就没有选择返回“家”。作为回应，他们倾向于寻找其他分享他们生活经历的人。这通常会导致社区共享强烈且可能压倒性的情感需求，并且发现自己无法给予或接受所需的东西。这些新社区往往不稳定并成为冲突场所。在此期间，除了缺乏独立生活技能造成的问题外，研究表明，离开护理人员在确保独立方面通常会遇到三个困难：与以前的社区隔离、由于行为问题导致的住宿中断以及影响他们应对独立生活能力的更广泛的心理/情绪健康问题。在这种情况下，年轻人的社区观念以及他们如何找到新的社区并融入其中，往往会受到考验，甚至到了崩溃的地步。本案例研究将与两个小组合作，以更好地了解工作流程并促进对正在进行的工作进行主动评估。然后，它将成为审查的支柱，旨在使学院和政策制定者能够更清楚地了解年轻人对社区的看法有多脆弱，以及这如何影响他们如何看待自己。该项目将分为四个阶段，以研究在向独立过渡期间发生的情况。 (1) 它将采访年轻人和 DCCCCS 团队成员，了解他们对社区的理解，并通过批评政策制定者使用的情境化文件来将其置于情境中（这一过程将在第二、第三和第四阶段重复）。 (2) 它将利用这些数据来举办一系列由 Exstream Theatre Company（与“处于危险中”青少年合作的专家）主办的一系列研讨会和研讨会，以满足 (i) 年轻人和 (ii) DCCCCS 团队的不同需求。这些将导致 (i) 表演和 (ii) 为服务提供商量身定制的关于社区理念的报告。 (3) 为期两天的研讨会将两个小组聚集在一起：年轻人将完成他们的工作，DCCCCS 团队将展示他们的论文，我们将共同反思我们的经验，评估流程并计划未来的合作。 (4) 我们将通过评论和论文反思并分享我们的发现。