CARE LEAVERS’ MODELS OF ENTERING ADULTHOOD: ANALYSIS OF REPORTS CONCERNING THE PROCESS OF GAINING INDEPENDENCE

Abstract

This paper aims at identifying models of adulthood dominating in the discourse concerning care leavers. The conducted qualitative analysis of reports devoted to the process of gaining independence by care leavers from the period 2010-2020 indicates that the present institutional model of adulthood is not adequate to the social, cultural, and economic conditions in which transition to adulthood of contemporary young people occurs. It is also not conducive to the flexibility and multiplicity of life paths constructed by care leavers. Alternative models of adulthood implied in the conclusions and recommendations formulated in the analyzed reports evidence the need for an open discussion concerning the change of policies and practices as regards the organization and course of the process of gaining independence by care leavers.