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Abstract: This paper investigates young care leavers' expectations of their future after discharge from care. The results are based on qualitative longitudinal data where 16‐ to 21‐year‐old care leavers (n = 15) were interviewed twice, first when still in care but planning for their discharge (T1) and the second time 6–9 months later (T2). The analysis using a general inductive approach showed that their expectations were dependent on the time horizon and that there was an obvious difference between the young informants' short‐ and long‐term expectations. Their short‐term expectations consisted of worries connected to their approaching discharge (at T1) and how to cope with challenges of everyday life after discharge from care (at T2). These results seem to echo negative outcomes shown in previous quantitative research. However, the informants' long‐term expectations provide a different picture, being mainly positive in both interviews (T1 and T2). The results are discussed from a life course perspective, where the informants' visions of their future are framed and understood in terms of the different stages of their transition process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper considers social and personal/individual approaches to researching identities of adolescents with severe learning disabilities; suggesting that vital components of emotionality and relatedness are largely missing from research and consequently from literature informing social care professionals. This leaves untapped, rich information and communication resources for research which may improve understandings of the experiences of a socially excluded group of young people. A psychosocial view of adolescent identity development, 'subjectivation', offers a way forward and a case study on 'Billy', drawn from a 'practice-near' observational study, helps to illustrate this. Observation allows the researcher to be sensitive to the subtle ways in which identities of young people with severe learning disabilities are constructed, often with a sense of fragility and uncertainty. Continuities of experience between the young people and the rest of the adolescent community may be seen, but also the impact of living with impairment can be thought about in relation to the particular psychosocial circumstances of each young person. Knowledge of these processes enhances social work practice by encouraging workers to be sensitive to, and healthily curious about, the multiple ways in which identities of young people with severe learning disabilities are shaped in relationship with those around them and the wider social field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the use of qualitative data analysis of in-depth interviews with eight white international transracial adoptive mothers, four properties emerged that describe these mothers' racial views. These properties varied in the degree that they integrated perspectives different from the white dominant culture. The mothers did not experience significant changes in their perspective on race subsequent to adoption. This paper includes a discussion of white racial identity and implications for social work practice with transracially adoptive parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The situation of families undergoing separation in a context of co-occurrence of intimate partner violence (IPV) and child maltreatment raises certain issues related to child custody. The results presented in this paper were collected and analysed within the framework of a qualitative study aiming to identify the principal points of agreement and the main controversies amongst practitioners in several different types of organizations. Focus groups were held with a total of 43 practitioners from six different settings concerned with child custody in cases of co-occurrence of IPV and child maltreatment. Although they agreed on the importance of ensuring the safety of victims of violence, their views diverged on three points: (1) the importance of preserving the father-child relationship; (2) collaboration between voluntary organizations and semi-voluntary or legal agencies; and (3) consideration of cultural differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term 'sibling sexual dynamics' (SSD) describes (in this study) a continuum of childhood sexual behaviours that are inconsistent with age‐appropriate curiosity and can include abuse (SSA). The present qualitative study, based on 20 semi‐structured interviews, conducts an analysis via constructivist grounded theory on the perspectives of adults who, as children in the Orthodox Jewish community, experienced sexual interactions with one or more of their siblings. Ultimately, the goal is to deepen the understanding of the religio‐cultural aspects of SSD in this cultural context. The findings reveal three main themes: (1) taboos, both those relating to intrafamilial sexual encounters and the religious taboo around sexuality in general; (2) family hierarchic dynamics, including gender‐based hierarchies; and (3) religious prohibition, a concept that the participants perceive as influencing their modes of thought and logic. The study highlights the need for practitioners to attend to the double ambiguity arising from the sibling and religious contexts. Additionally, we suggest that distinguishing between religious and interpretative socio‐cultural factors may provide practitioners with a path to create a dialogue with clients, individuals and religious leaders within the community around issues that may constitute risk for sibling sexual acts and abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children live in different contexts of protection and vulnerability when exposed to domestic violence. The negative impacts for many children are consistent and widely acknowledged. However, the implication that this requires men who use violence to address their fathering has been slower to emerge. This article draws from 69 in‐depth qualitative interviews with men, women, and workers across four men's behaviour change programmes in rural Victoria, Australia. Particular attention is given to men's attitudes to their fathering and the formal and informal consequences they experienced as a result of their violence and its impact on their fathering. Although most men came to recognize that their violence impacted their children, they failed to make the connection that the involvement of statutory child protection services in their lives was a direct consequence of their abusive behaviour. This article explores this disconnection by fathers who use violence, their attitude to the involvement of statutory child protection services, and identifies the implications for social work practitioners in addressing this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the experience of grandparents who are raising their grandchildren in New South Wales, Australia. In-depth interviews were conducted with 34 grandparents and their narratives transcribed and studied using paradigmatic analysis to reveal common themes among the stories told. Identity theory further informed the discussion of these findings. Woven throughout the grandparent narratives is a story of paradox - of experience simultaneously made up of pain/pleasure, myth/reality, inclusion/exclusion, being deserving/undeserving, visible/invisible and voiced/silenced. The findings signal a significant role-identity conflict for grandparents who are parenting grandchildren. This study points to the need for policy and practice that more closely reflects the complexity of experience associated with the grandparent-as-parent role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]