A home away from home for adolescents: narratives on residential care life in eThekwini

Abstract

In South Africa, the escalating necessity to place young people in residential care facilities is a response to the growing population of vulnerable and orphaned children. The breakdown of traditional family dynamics and various social issues that they are faced with contribute to this situation. Research exploring the experiences and support that adolescents in residential care encounter is sparse. This highlights the significance of the current research study, especially as it seeks to explore the perspectives of the adolescents regarding their residential care life experiences without a narrow focus on specific aspects of residential care. A qualitative approach was used to explore adolescents’ experiences of twenty-six adolescents in a residential care facility within the eThekwini region. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain insight into participants’ experiences of residential care, including the reasons behind their placement, their daily lives and challenges within residential care, and their experiences of formal and informal support. The study was guided by the Maslow Hierarchy theoretical framework. The participants included thirteen males and thirteen females of different racial backgrounds. Using thematic analysis, six themes and fifteen sub-themes emerged from the data. The findings revealed that the primary reasons for children’s placement in residential care were found to be parental alcohol and substance use, destitution, the need for safety and protection, the challenges of education and abandonment. The participants had mixed experiences of the residential care facility, as both positive and negative experiences were reported by the child and youth care workers and social workers. The participants who had positive experiences with the child and youth care workers felt supported and cared for, while those with negative experiences felt victimised and not liked by the child and youth care workers. Some participants felt abandoned by their families while in residential care, as they did not visit them and did not receive phone calls from their families. However, some did receive support from their families, such as weekend visits or phone calls to check how they were coping at the residential care facility. Lastly, the study findings revealed that some participants had negative experiences of peer support in the form of victimisation by their peers while at the residential care facility. In order to improve residential care life, the study recommends that child and youth care workers based in residential care facilities receive training on how to improve adolescents’ experiences of residential care life through building effective, protective and caring relationships. Furthermore, child and youth care workers should encourage family contact to sustain family support while their children are in residential care facilities. Lastly, child and youth care workers and social workers must maintain equal treatment among the children and young people.