‘We need to understand what’s going on because it’s our life’: Using sandboxing to understand children and young people’s everyday conversations about care

Debbie L Watson*, Eleanor Staples, Katie Riches

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

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Abstract

Children and young people who live away from birth families (through adoption or being in care) need an understanding of their life story, including reasons for removal from birth family to process what has happened to them and to develop a secure identity. We report data produced with care experienced children and young people using a creative sandboxing method capturing hopes and fears for conversations about care in sand scenes. The themes presented emphasise the need for care-experienced children and young people to be supported to engage in ‘difficult conversations’ about their lives in warm, open and responsive ways.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)663-679
Number of pages17
JournalChildren & Society
Volume35
Issue number5
Early online date14 Dec 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 9 Aug 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We wish to thank the children and young people who participated and co‐produced the data presented in the article and to thank the staff of the adoption agency and Local Authority who assisted in recruiting and supporting the children and young people. Funding for the research was provided by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as part of the University of Bristol Impact Acceleration Account: ES/M500410/1.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 National Children's Bureau and John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Structured keywords

  • SPS Children and Families Research Centre

Keywords

  • agency
  • care experienced
  • conversations
  • identity
  • life story
  • sandbox

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