Comparative overview of studies on the abandonment of alternative care

Abstract

The last two decades was marked by an increase in the number of studies dealing with young people leaving alternative care. Until the 90's of the XX century, research on small samples, describing the needs and lives of young people who have left the system of alternative care, were represented. This paper provides insight into the policies of different countries in terms of young people' transition to independence and examines the differences that exist in determining the concepts, laws and the outcomes of leaving alternative care. Studies have shown that young people leaving alternative care face the risk of social exclusion and marginalization and a lack of political action directed towards this vulnerable group. At the beginning, the challenges and difficulties faced by young people in Western societies drew attention of researchers (Dixon and Stein, 2002; Social Exclusion Unit, 2003). These results were disturbing both for underprivileged young people in care and the social protection system, because it's likely that they will become beneficiaries of the social protection system, as well as socially excluded and dependent on social welfare services as adults. Although in developed countries there are similarities in terms of protection of young people leaving care, the differences in the economic, social, cultural and political context probably influence the different approaches regarding the measures taken to ensure the well-being of young people. Thus, Corden (2001: 288) suggests that the strength of comparing different context lies in a better understanding of alternative frameworks and different perspectives in considering good and bad solutions among different countries.

Poslednje dve decenije obeležio je porast broja istraživanja koja se bave mladima koji napuštaju alternativno staranje. Sve do devedesetih godina XX veka bila su zastupljena istraživanja na malim uzorcima koja se bave opisom potreba i života mladih koji su napustili sistem alternativnog staranja. Ovaj rad pruža uvid u politike različitih zemalja u pogledu tranzicije mladih ka osamostaljivanju i sagledava razlike koje postoje u određivanju pojmova, zakona i ishoda napuštanja alternativnog staranja. Istraživanja su pokazala da se mladi koji napuštaju alternativno staranje suočavaju sa rizicima socijalne isključenosti i marginalizacije, kao i izostanka političke akcije usmerene ka ovoj osetljivoj grupi. Na početku, istraživačku pažnju privlačili su izazovi i teškoće sa kojima su se suočavali mladi u zapadnim društvima (Dixon and Stein, 2002; Social Exclusion Unit, 2003). Ovi rezultati bili su uznemirujući kako za neprivilegovane mlade koji su na smeštaju tako i za sistem socijalne zaštite, jer postoji velika verovatnoća da će oni postati korisnici usluga sistema socijalne zaštite, da će biti socijalno isključeni ali i zavisni od usluga socijalne zaštite kao odrasli. Iako u razvijenim zemljama postoje sličnosti u pogledu brige za mlade koji napuštaju smeštaj, razlike u ekonomskom, socijalnom, kulturnom i političkom kontekstu verovatno utiču na različite pristupe u pogledu preduzetih mera za obezbeđivanje dobrostanja mladih. Tako Corden (2001: 288) predlaže da snaga poređenja različitih konteksta leži u boljem razumevanju alternativnih okvira i različitih perspektiva u sagledavanju dobrih i loših rešenja među različitim državama.