Beyond the Family Fostering Experience: A Qualitative Study on the Perceptions of the Self and One’s Own History in Italian Care Leavers

Abstract

Research on the subjective experience of transitioning to adulthood among young people aging out of foster care is scarce. Accordingly, this study investigated 26 Italian care leavers’ self and personal history perceptions. Thematic analysis was conducted using in-depth interview data. Two major themes emerged—personal strengths that may lead to strong personal and relational adjustment, and difficulties related to a critical personal and relational functioning—suggesting that the family fostering experience may lead to different perceptions of self, others, and one’s own history that influence the development of care leavers’ identity while transitioning to adulthood, with noteworthy implications for practice.

Keywords:

• Care leavers
• emerging adulthood
• family fostering
• life history
• self-perception

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Data availability

The dataset analyzed in the current study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in this study that involved human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Italian Psychology Association and the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all the participants included in the study.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Local Municipality.