Children and Youth Services Review 33 (2011) 2532–2539

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Making sense of leaving care: The contribution of Bridges model of transition to

understanding the psycho-social process
Gabriela Dima 1, Caroline Skehill ⁎
Queen's University Belfast, School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, 6 College Park, Belfast, BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Available online 26 August 2011 This paper is based on research into the transition of young people leaving public care in Romania. Using this
specific country example, the paper aims to contribute to present understandings of the psycho-social tran-
Keywords: sition of young people from care to independent living by introducing the use of Bridges (2002) to build on
Leaving public care existing theories and literature. The research discussed involved mixed methods design and was implemen-
Youth transition ted in three phases: semi-structured interviews with 34 care leavers, focus groups with 32 professionals, and
Bridges model of transition
a professional-service user working group. The overall findings confirmed that young people experience two
Interpretative phenomenological analysis
different, but interconnected transitions – social and psychological – which take place at different paces. A
number of theoretical perspectives are explored to make sense of this transition including attachment theory,
focal theory and identity. In addition, a new model for understanding the complex process of transitions was
adapted from Bridges (2002) to capture the clear complexity of transition which the findings demonstrated
in terms of their psycho-social transition. The paper concludes with messages for leaving and after care ser-
vices with an emphasis on managing the psycho-social transition from care to independent living.
© 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction using this model that while socially, care leavers leap directly into a
new beginning, a completely different life, psychologically most are in
The study discussed in this paper explored the experiences of young an ‘in-between’ zone for a longer time (which could be years), dealing
people leaving public care in Romania, a field which is in its early devel- with ending care and new roles of independent living and adulthood.
opmental stage in literature, research and practice within the country. Other research such as Stein's, 2004, 2008 has already brought this
The study sought to give voice to a group of vulnerable young people, issue to the fore. Stein categorized care leavers by core outcomes and
care leavers, to access their inner world in order to find out how the described three different categories — Moving On, Surviving and Strug-
outer world should act so that care leavers could improve their transi- gling. He argued that the majority of young people fell into the middle
tion to post-care life. The overall objective of the study was to bring category. Informed by such research, this research sought to provide a
an in-depth understanding of the experiences of care leavers and model which provided a specific framework within which to theorize
draw lessons for leaving care practice and policy from both young peo- this process further with an emphasis on psycho-social transitions.
ple, as service users and professionals, as service providers. Bridges model of transitions was adapted for this purpose.
The purpose of this paper is to highlight how the findings demon- The paper begins with an introduction to the Romanian leaving care
strated the complex psycho-social transition young people go through context and research, a brief methods section and the literature review
when they leave residential care and have to set up an independent providing the background for the study. Following is a section on main
life as adults. As in the case of much of the international research on findings that emerged. In the Discussion, the findings are discussed in
leaving care, the findings of this study can be explained and interpreted the context of Bridges' framework and recommendations for practice
in light of perspectives such as attachment theory, the focal model of are provided by means of Conclusion.
adolescence and identity perspectives. In addition, this study proposes
an adaptation of Bridges' (2002) framework of transitions as an alterna- 2. Research background: the Romanian leaving care context and
tive lens to understand leaving care. The main argument for its potential research
added value is the clear explanatory way in which it shows how the
movement through transition takes place. It will be demonstrated Leaving care policy and practice evolved in Romania along with the
country's major political and welfare changes and reforms. This can be
described mainly as three distinctive periods. Firstly, during the commu-
Abbreviation: NGO, non-governmental organization.
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: + 44 28 90975990.
nist regime up to 1989, leaving care was a well-defined and straightfor-
E-mail addresses: gdima01@[Link] (G. Dima), [Link]@[Link] (C. Skehill). ward process in that children moved from one to another all-providing
1
Permanent address: Miraslau 35, 500175 Brasov, Romania. Tel.: + 40 268 426336. system of free education, usually in vocational schools to guarantee

0190-7409/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/[Link].2011.08.016
 G. Dima, C. Skehill / Children and Youth Services Review 33 (2011) 2532–2539 2533

employment in the industrial area, accommodation in factory-owned One of the outcomes of Dima (2009) was a set of recommendations
blocks and food in canteens. While young people were often discrimi- for practice which can take account of the complexity of transition
nated against in this regime, the practical options of education and ac- from care which are summarized later in this paper.
commodation did give some guarantees in terms of survival post-care
(Alexiu, 2000). The situation changed dramatically after 1989 when
3. Methods
care leavers were simply left to be ‘governed by the rule of chance’
(Zamfir & Zamfir, 1997: 105) with absolutely no support after a life in
The research design was mixed-methods consisting of a qualita-
care leaving them with few opportunities to develop independent life
tive core component with a quantitative supplementary element cho-
skills. This second period of legislative and structural change 1990–
sen to enhance description and understanding (Morse, Niehaus,
1999 is marked mainly by the first child welfare reform 19972 which
Wolfe, & Wilkins, 2006). 9 The main qualitative component of the re-
emphasized decentralization. At county level, ‘Directorates for the Pro-
search was driven by the belief that, if we want to understand care
tection of the Child's Rights,’ coordinated by a government department
leaving and make a difference in care leavers' life, it is their voice
were established.3 Considered as adults able to look after themselves,
that should be heard first.
care leavers were largely ignored by this first post-communist childcare
The study comprised of three phases and was based in one county in
reform. Young people had to leave care at age 18 years unless they were
Romania. Phase One involved in-depth semi-structured interviews 10
in education.4 Services were only provided by a few voluntary, private
with 34 young people aged 20–25 years who had an experience of liv-
initiatives and NGOs non-governmental organizations and for many
ing independently for two to four years.11 To ensure richness of re-
young people, help in transitioning from care to independent living
search data, purposive sampling was used to include young people
was literally non-existent. The third period of reform which began in
from all placement centers around the county. Phase Two involved six
the early 2000s is marked by increased recognition of care leavers'
focus groups with 32 various professionals from both the voluntary
needs and a clear political will to respond to them. For example, young
and statutory sectors (social workers, psychologists, placement center
people's social exclusion was first acknowledged by law in 2002,5
manager, NGO project coordinators, managers from the direction).
when care leavers were recognized as a priority group. Under the
Phase Three involved a participatory working group which was estab-
main provisions evidenced also in practice (Calinoiu, 2002) is the system
lished to bring together service users (6 young people) and service pro-
of employment contracts (‘solidarity contracts’) and incentives for em-
viders (6 professionals) to work together on solutions to improve care
ployers. In 2004, the General Directorate for Social Assistance and
leaving practice and policy.
Child Protection6 extended responsibilities toward young people who
The main method for data analysis was Interpretative Phenomeno-
can now stay in care for up to 2 years over the period they are entitled
logical Analysis (IPA) (Smith, Jarman, & Osborn, 1999; Smith & Osborn,
to, admitting that the state's responsibility does not end at discharge.7
2008). This approach was chosen for its potential to study “unexplored
The high need for developing the independent living skills of young peo-
territory where a theoretical pretext may be lacking” enabling “mean-
ple within the child care system is also recognized.8 However, although
ing and unexpected analysis” of psychosocial issues to arise (Reid,
the current legislation for young people leaving care is a progressive one,
Flowers, & Larkin, 2005: 20). The term ‘interpretative phenomenologi-
many of the provisions are not implemented yet (Anghel & Dima, 2008).
cal analysis’ signals the dual nature of the approach (Smith, 1996:
A body of research and literature on leaving care in Romania is
264): the phenomenological requirement to understand and ‘give
emerging, mirroring the slow developments in the legal and practice
voice’, exploring the participant's inside view on the phenomenon
area. Except for the two large-scale national cohort studies on young
under study (see Findings: making sense of leaving care section), and
people at the edge of leaving care (Foundation Children Romania,
the interpretative requirement to contextualize and ‘make sense’ of
1998; Muga, Racoceanu, Alexandrescu, & Polch, 2005), most research
these claims from a psychological perspective (see Discussion section)
is small-scale and of a qualitative nature or mixed designs (Anghel &
(Larkin, Watts, & Clifton, 2006: 102). Focus group and working group
Beckett, 2007; Baban, Marcu, & Craciun, 2008; Balica, 2002; Buttu,
data were analyzed by the use of thematic content analysis. NVivo7 pro-
Alexandrescu, & Mihaita, 2001; Marcovici & Dalu, 2002; Marginean,
gram (QSR International, 2006) was used to help organize and analyze
Popescu, Arpinte, & Neagu, 2004; National Agency for Supporting
the huge amount of qualitative data.
the Initiative of Young People (ANSIT), 2003, 2006; Oxford Research
This methodology, while complex, proved worthwhile in terms of
International, 1999). Most research focused on early destinations,
offering an in-depth understanding of the transition from care to inde-
leaving care preparation, and young people's social–professional inte-
pendent living from a range of viewpoints which brought to the fore,
gration. The main findings point to care leavers' housing insecurity,
quite early on, the extent to which some factors impacting on young
low education and low employability, little preparation for leaving
people in transition are country specific (e.g. the specific legal and pol-
care, stigma and social exclusion. These findings have been replicated
icy context referred to above) while others seem to be universal both in
in the study reported here (see Dima, 2009) and indeed are generally
terms of practical/social needs (e.g. accommodation, employment, edu-
consistent with research into young people leaving care in other ju-
cation) and psychological transition. The methodological challenges are
risdictions also, such as the UK and the US (Ward & Courtney,
explained more fully in Dima and Skehill (2006, 2008).
2008). One of the most remarkable aspects of the findings of this
study has been the different paces of psychological and social transi-
tion which has been rarely distinguished in developments to date. 4. Literature review: theory and research on leaving care

2
Introduced after 8 years of maintaining the former communist child welfare law 3/
Research evidence on care leavers' outcomes and the conclusion of
1970. the analysis undertaken by Stein on the leaving care situation in 16
3
Decision 205/1997 on Organization of the activities of the local Public Administrative countries (Stein, 2008) shows a general picture of high risk of social ex-
Authorities in the field of Child's Rights Protection. clusion for young people leaving care, despite variations within differ-
4
Emergency Order 26/1997 on The Protection of Children in Diffciulty.
5 ent countries. Leaving care is a challenging arena for both practice and
Law 116/2002 on ‘Prevention and Combating Social Exclusion’.
6
The earlier “Directorates for the Protection of the Child's Rights”, coordinated at
governmental level by the National Authority for the Protection of Children's Rights
9
(ANPDC), and the Ministry of Labour, Social Solidarity and Family. Described by Morse et al. (2006) as the — ‘Qual + quan design’, one of the 10 types
7
Law 272 (2004) on the Protection and Promotion of Children's Rights. of mixed-methods designs described by the authors.
8 10
Order 48/2004 on Minimum standards for Services for Independent Life Skills De- An average of two meetings with each young person lasting for about 2 h.
11
velopment aimed at children and adolescents within the child care system, replaced The reference population was care leavers discharged during January 2003 to De-
with Order 17/2007. cember 2004 in one county; data collection took place during 2005–2007.
2534 G. Dima, C. Skehill / Children and Youth Services Review 33 (2011) 2532–2539

conceptualization.12Stein (2006) argues that the field is undertheorized rather are expected to take on instant adulthood (Stein, 2004: 109–
with few studies being informed by theoretical perspectives and the 110).
vast majority being empirically driven and descriptive in nature. He More recently, other theoretical perspectives have influenced studies
draws attention to the ‘poverty of theory’ and the need for more theo- of leaving care such as identity theories (Cote & Levine, 2002; DuGay,
retically grounded studies (Stein, 2006: 422) which can build on theo- Evans, & Redman, 2005). Although a review of leaving care literature
retical perspectives on leaving care. In the research reported here, two shows that some authors mention identity issues (Anghel & Beckett,
of the theories suggested by Stein (1997, 2004), attachment theory 2007; Biehal, Clayden, Stein, & Wade, 1995; Dumaret & Coppel-Batsch,
and the focal model of adolescence underpinned the research from 1998; Horrocks & Goddard, 2006; Parker, Ward, Jackson, Aldgate, &
the beginning. As the research progressed, identity became a particular- Wedge, 1991; Pinkerton & McCrea, 1999; Samuels & Pryce, 2008; Stein,
ly important theme. This led to the search for a model which could cap- 2004, 2005; Stein & Carey, 1986), overall there is limited attention paid
ture both the social and psychological dimensions of transition and to the development of the self and identity of care leavers.
Bridges was chosen on this basis as a framework for the analysis. A sum- From a developmental life stage perspectives, the period between 18
mary of these theoretical perspectives is provided below. and 25/26 years on which study participants reported predominantly is
The theoretical foundations of attachment theory were set by Bowlby defined by Arnett (1994, 2000) and Arnett and Taber (1994) as ‘emerging
(1969) who defined infants' early attachment behavior and the con- adulthood’, a distinct period before full adulthood is achieved. The pro-
struction of ‘internal working mental models’. Ainsworth (1969) intro- longed route toward adulthood is acknowledged by empirical European
duced the notion of an ‘attachment figure’ and classified attachment studies, too (Vogel, 2002: 275).
behavior according to the care giving environment (Howe, 1995). Cri- As referred to earlier, Mike Stein categorized care leavers according to
tiques of this linear, deterministic model of attachment propose a their outcomes in three outcome groups, which were situated more re-
more nuanced perspective which is the ‘social network model’ of mul- cently within a ‘resilience’ framework (Stein, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008):
tiple attachment relationships Lewis (2005, cited in Skolka, 2006). young people ‘moving on’ who are very resilient, coping well with the
Working models are not fixed and can change and accommodate new challenges of independence, settled in accommodation, having a job, a
experiences over time, which leaves a ‘window of opportunity’ for positive identity, less dependent on leaving care services; ‘survivors’
later shifts to compensate early disturbances (Schofield & Beek, 2007: who are just about coping, experience movements and instability,
28). In general, attachment theory provides a framework for under- low-paid jobs or unemployment, relational problems, resilience being
standing care leavers in terms of pre-care experiences and separation closely linked to the support received and ‘strugglers’, the most disad-
from birth families, their care careers (e.g. placement disruption and vantaged, evidence a cluster of problems and support is very important
stability) and the impact of these experiences on life after care (Stein, to them (Stein, 2008: 298).
2006: 425). Downes (1992) paid specific attention to how the end of This study has introduced a further theoretical framework influ-
a placement is negotiated, as the end, more than any other time during enced by Bridges (2002) approach of transition. Bridges distinguishes
the placement, resonates with previous experiences of separation and between ‘change’ and ‘transition’ whereby change is situational, exter-
re-enacts patterns of behavior which functioned to protect from hurt nal and focused on the new context (e.g. the new site, the new roles),
(Downes, 1992: 94). Similar issues were addressed by Smit (1995) in while transition is internal and related to the psychological process peo-
a study on preparation for discharge in Netherlands and by Nollan and ple go through to come to terms with the new situation.
Downs (2001), presenting the experience of practitioners from the Bridges (2002: 4) states that “unless transition occurs, change will
Casey Family Program for Independent Living in USA. not work”. He describes three phases of transition: an ending, a neutral
The ‘focal theory’ or ‘focal model of adolescence’ was developed by zone and only than a new beginning. Yet, these stages do not have
Coleman in 1974 as an attempt to resolve the contradictions between clear boundaries. He argues that in either phase people are in more
‘classical’ psychoanalytical and sociological accounts of adolescence em- than one of the phases at the same time, while the “movement through
phasizing its problematic nature (Coleman & Hendry, 1999). The model transition is marked by a change in the dominance of one phase as it
suggests that adolescents manage to adjust to a wide range of transi- gives way to the next” (Bridges, 2002: 70).
tions and so much potentially stressful change without undue trauma The starting point for transition is not the new situation, but the end-
or stress “by dealing with one issue at a time. They spread the process ing, the letting go of the old reality and old identity had before the change
of adaptation over a span of years” (Coleman & Hendry, 1999: 15). took place. The neutral zone is described as the no-man's-land between
Rice, Herman, and Petersen (1993 in Coleman & Hendry, 1999) differ- the old reality and the new one, between the old sense of identity and
entiate between two categories of events: normative events, experi- the new. This is a time when the old is gone and the new doesn't feel
enced by all young people (e.g. developmental characteristics), non- comfortable, a time of chaos, confusion, anxiety, ambiguity, uncertainty,
normative events, concerning individual young people (e.g. leaving and search. The beginning is conceptualized as a psychological
care). The author underlines that a critical factor for the individual's phenomenon, not simply practical one, the situational change that had
coping ability is the way normative and non-normative events cluster been made. The new start takes place earlier than the new beginning
together, which is the case of care leavers. Stein (1997, 2004, 2006) ap- characterized by new attitudes, understandings, new identities, which
plied the notion of the focal model to young people leaving care who ex- occur only if people have first made an ending and spent some time in
perience ‘accelerated and compressed transitions’ to adulthood and are the neutral zone.
therefore ‘denied the psychological opportunity and space to focus — to Bridge's work “Managing transitions: making the most of change”
deal with issues over time’ (2004: 109). The author stresses that the (2002) provides suggestions on how to manage each stage for a better
three stages of social transition: leaving or disengagement, transition it- transition, some of which are adapted to care leaving in the Conclusions
self and integration are conflated for care leavers into one final stage. section.
They do not have the time for exploration, freedom, risk-taking, reflec-
tion and identity search in the middle stage, the “transition itself” but 5. Findings: making sense of leaving care

This section brings evidence of the complexity of young people's tran-

12
The terminology used in the present study for young people leaving care and desig- sition from residential care to independent living, reporting on findings
nated support services is the English one: ‘leaving care’ and ‘aftercare services’; terminol- from both care leavers and professionals over the three research phases.
ogy in US is ‘aging out of care’ and ‘emancipation’; in Australia and US ‘out-of-home-care’
(Munro & Stein, 2008). The equivalent term in the Romanian language for young people
The themes of ending care, social transition to independent living and psy-
leaving care used in official documents is ‘young people leaving the child protection sys- chological transition to adulthood as resulted from the use of Interpretative
tem’, while in the field ‘assisted young people’ (‘asistati’) is common. Phenomenological Analysis of interview transcripts with young people
 G. Dima, C. Skehill / Children and Youth Services Review 33 (2011) 2532–2539 2535

are presented first, followed by professionals' views and findings from the even now (2 years later) I keep thinking…about that break-up…
collaborative working group activity which adds to our understanding of but it will pass.”
the transition. To support the argument, representative quotes for the
case in discussion are interspersed.13 Professionals showed awareness of young people's feelings related
to care discharge: “generally, children don't want to leave the center”,
5.1. Ending care “that moment, which is extremely painful for them”, they are “disor-
iented because they walk into an unknown world”, “terrified by what's
‘Ending care’ provides an insight into the way staff and care leavers there waiting for them”, “confused”, “panicked”, feeling “up-rooted”,
deal with the moment of leaving and ending care, and the meanings as- “another separation is triggered” (professionals). What is striking is
sociated to leaving care. The subthemes emerged are: ‘preparing for the that professionals showed full awareness and recognition of the emo-
moment of leaving’ and ‘I separate from the life I used to have…’. tional discontent related to ending care, yet they did not seem to trans-
Few young people welcomed leaving care and pictured a distorted late this into preparatory activities.
image of reality: “I thought things would be pink for me… there wouldn't
be any more rules and limits” (Ion). However, the vast majority were not
excited about their departure: “I knew we had difficulties lying in wait 5.2. Social transition to independent living
for us, but I had no idea that they would be that huge…” (Daniel).
Two different attitudes of young people toward leaving care This theme evidences young people's first destinations outside
emerge: one that recognizes the moment of leaving as part of a natu- care and the instability of their life outside care. The subordinate
ral process “we were kinda conscious that one day we would have to themes describing the transition are: ‘early destinations’, ‘when I
go away from here” (Andrea). The other indicates avoidance – “we was left with nothing’, ‘instability and insecurity’.
wanted to stay there forever” (Dumitru) – or denial, because of the Very few young people returned to their family or extended fam-
anxiety it raises — “they told us we still had 1 year to go […] I mean ily. The most common early destinations were: cheap rooms rented in
I felt like a big zero (few days before discharge)…maybe if they had blocks of flats supported usually by the ‘Direction’ for first months;
let me know previously, then I would have tried and got ready a rooms provided together with employment usually in constructions,
bit… got used to the idea, but that came as shocking news to me…” for young men; and transition centers, meaning a crisis intervention
(Octavian). When faced with the reality of leaving, some felt aban- center designed for urgent cases. For a few, the services of an NGO
doned: “he left me with my luggage at the gate”, “I'm going to be after-care program were available, ensuring a much easier transition
kicked out tomorrow”. Most care leavers perceived that leaving care from care — “they are the parents I didn't have”.
happened abruptly, with no appropriate preparation and planning Lacking a well-prepared discharge and an after-care support net-
and support. work, care leavers experience the gap between ‘inside’ and ‘outside’
Professionals explained that “the message was sent to them a long care as a transition from almost total support to no support:
time before, just that they haven't worked it out as they should have” “Growing up in the center where I had a safe meal, accommodation,
avoiding to face the unwanted, fearful reality: “we see what we want all facilities were secured, I didn't have to struggle for absolutely
to see, we hear what we want to hear”. anything… it was really hard to imagine how things would be […]
The research highlighted the extent to which leaving care meant before I got in the present situation, when I have to pay and see
separation. Many of the young people interviewed had lived in care how it's like to work and pay and be left with nothing …” (Ion).
for a long time (23 young people lived in care for over 10 years),
and leaving was associated with the end of “the life I used to have
Some care leavers powerfully expressed the difference between
there”, the end of attachment relationships “let's say your family”
the two worlds – in care and outside care – using comparisons:
(Gabriel). Some of the main feelings associated with leaving care
were as follows: “I was just as if…I used to live somewhere locked and then they let
me out and you say ‘go’; inside a bird cage and you say ‘go away’…
▪ Abandonment: “I feel sorry about the girls, the teachers, I knew I
but I don't know where to go, I'll fly away but I have no place to go;
was going to be alone and I hate being left alone…” (Elena).
they give you your bags and say ‘go away’, but where should I go,
▪ Anxiety and fear: “every child is afraid, I mean he's horrified…
I've got no family, no friends, where should I go?” (Mircea).
when he's got to leave” (Octavian). Frightening is also the fact
that leaving means no way of return.
Statutory professionals appreciate that the residential care living
▪ Ambivalence: “I was curious and I was afraid” (Tudor).
context lead to “what appears to be welfare at first, but it actually
▪ Acceptance: “…just accept it as something real, a thing which hap-
has a boomerang effect”.
pens… to each of us, to a family member as well” (Calin).
Findings show that highly salient markers of aftercare life for most
Among so many mixed feelings there was little attention paid to young people were instability and insecurity, present in all core life
the actual ending and saying good-bye: “there wasn't a big deal… a areas, such as housing instability, homelessness, work mobility, finan-
child is leaving, he's no one […] nobody feels sorry for those who cial insecurity and relationship breakdowns. For example, in the first
are leaving, they just leave and others will come” (Andra). 3 years after leaving care, over 60% of young people have moved five
Psychological ending usually took longer than the actual moment times or more; over three quarters of care leavers lived in poverty,
“you leave through the gate” (Victor). Vasile powerfully expressed his nearly one third were unemployed and over half of young people
process of separation: changed five or more jobs in a period of one to three years since dis-
charge. Overall, results of this study show that while a majority were
“…it was just as if all memories were falling apart…it was hard for
either ‘moved on’ or ‘struggling’ overall, for most, the experience was
me to break up with everything…it took me months, even more;
more mixed. Two to four years after care discharge, outcomes of
young people consisted of a mixture of areas with good results and
areas with poor results (e.g. employment stability and housing insta-
13
bility; good educational, training progress and employment instabili-
Verbatim extracts can be identified by name at the end of the quote (changed for
confidentiality reasons); empty square brackets within verbatim extracts indicate that
ty). The majority (70.6%) were survivors, only a minority showed a
original material was omitted purely for reasons of space and low relevance of the clearer direction, either upward, being successful (11.7%), or down-
argument. ward, being unsuccessful (17.6%).
2536 G. Dima, C. Skehill / Children and Youth Services Review 33 (2011) 2532–2539

5.3. Psychological transition to adulthood “…all of us live like a family, I mean we get along well, we help
each other” (Dumitru).
Social and psychological transitions are processes taking place to-
gether, yet they are analyzed separately for a better understanding of Young people differed in the way they related to their care back-
both of them. ‘Psychological transition to adulthood’ is described by ground. About half of those interviewed perceived themselves as no
the following subordinate themes: ‘becoming an adult’ — ‘knowing different from others – “I feel like an ordinary person, I mean I don't
how to live’, ‘care identity’, ‘the present and the future’. have any disability or flaw” (Andrea) – while the others felt somehow
Care leavers' stories highlight the process of psychological transition different — “I feel kinda different even now…'cause we are the ones
from dependency, created by full state provision, to independence, self- who used to live in a center” (Mircea). Most care leavers seemed to
provision and adult responsibilities. Almost half of the young people be cautious about disclosing their ‘care identity’ in order to avoid stig-
tended to remain dependent on social services, either because no ma, as Ion suggests: “I don't give it away, not my real identity”.
other alternative was available or because of a dependent, passive atti- For care leavers the present was “a continuous fight” (Calin). Most
tude: “they got used to the idea of someone being there all the time […] young people felt trapped in present difficulties and therefore were gen-
they were never let to experience what it means to succeed, I mean how erally confused and even astonished when asked about their future and
it is to do something by yourself” (Andrea). Others understood that responded automatically “I don't know”. The future evoked feelings of:
“(social services) cannot endlessly give you” (Raluca) and they have
to take charge of their lives: “you have to do it by yourself, this is a les- ▪ Fear: “first of all I'm scared, no, I'm not sure about a family, I'm
son hard to accept” (Calin). Adulthood is different: afraid to start my own family” (Mircea);
▪ Lack of control: “cause I simply don't know if I'm gonna live, be-
“It's not like before, that's it, a brand new lease of life, no fun or cause I don't own tomorrow” (Raluca);
discos, that thing, you got your money, you come home, you pay ▪ Unpredictability: “you never know, today you're alive and kicking,
your debts… food and many more” (Catalin). tomorrow you die” (Violeta).

Few care leavers felt prepared to manage life on their own: The idea of death appeared in care leavers' stories under various
“ready, ‘cause I knew I had to find a job and make my own living forms, but could be identified in approximately one third of the ac-
and nobody would be there to give me a hand…” (Octavian). Most counts. There were also positive future projections, normative aspira-
young people felt less prepared or completely unprepared, like tions: “I don't know…but I wish I had, I don't know…a family, a job,
Dumitru who points out the differences between young people my own house… to manage on my own; as anyone else” (Rodica).
brought up in care and those in families illustrating how limiting The importance of care leaver's psychological needs being consid-
the care system could be: ered alongside their social and practical requirements is stressed by
one NGO professional: “I thought it would be better to focus on their
“…when we left the center, we felt ashamed to go and buy bread primary needs… finding a place to stay, a job, but I could not deal
[…] because we were too narrow-minded…nobody teaches you with these needs because they came with something else….they felt
anything about society or about things like that […]. For them the need to tell certain things, the need to be listened to, they felt the
(in families) it's something normal to go and buy a ticket, get on need to be counseled…”.
a tram… have another kind of language […]. I didn't know how
to cook eggs, French fries, anything at all […]. I didn't know where 6. Discussion
to go to look for a job […]. I didn't know that maybe people drive
you away, maybe they don't trust you, I didn't know there were Research findings will be interpreted and discussed in light of an
things like upkeep bills, electricity, gas, water…” (Dumitru). adapted model of Bridges' transition phases in order to demonstrate the
usefulness of his model to add to exiting perspectives. Bridges' frame-
It seems that care leavers develop their independent living skills work was discussed by Anghel and Beckett(2007) in its original form,
mainly after care by experiential learning – “nobody's taught me” the process of change within organizations, explaining the experience
(Mircea) – having to pay the price to “learn from mistakes” (Rodica). of Romanian professionals within the transition of the child welfare sys-
Yet, earlier maturation because of hardship made them resilient and tem and country (after 1990, fall of communism) and the way this has
more capable to deal with life difficulties: “…the school of life, that's impacted on care leavers' transitions. While this approach looks at leav-
how it's called by those who…who grew up in care; this school can be ing care from a ‘micro/local’ and ‘mezzo/national’ context in terms of
more important than university […] it's true” (Anton). the three nested domains (Pinkerton, 2008), present findings focus on
Professionals seem to be aware of care leavers' unpreparedness ‘they the individual and proposes an adapted framework of Bridges' to explain
have no idea about the way things work in the real world’, ‘they don't the young person's transition. To explain the transition of care leavers the
have any life skills, neither for a personal life, nor a relational one, nor label ‘neutral zone’ was changed as the ‘in-between zone’ considered to
for the community’. One manager from the ‘Direction’ stated: “it is our better reflect the dense, changing and disruptive character of the passage
task to manage to make them strong enough to be ready to leave”, ad- from the old life in care to the new life outside care (Fig. 1).
mitting that: “I still wonder why we're not doing it yet…”. The value of adapting this model to the leaving care experience lies
The experience of having been in care contributes to the formation in emphasizing the significance of the ‘ending’ phase as equally impor-
of the young people's identity. Care leavers usually used the term tant to the other two phases of transition, even though the problem is
‘caminar’ meaning ‘from the center’ or a ‘care person’ when talking that, generally, people do not like endings and tend to overlook them
about themselves or other young people in or out of care. This hints (Bridges, 2002). This point is reinforced by authors who have studied
to the tendency to identify ‘self’ (‘I’) with ‘care’, which was described leaving care as a separation and loss (Downes, 1992; Greenberg &
in the present study, as ‘care identity’. Mayer in Smit, 1995) or a ‘second abandonment’ (Zamfir & Zamfir,
Care leavers demonstrated a strong ‘group identity’, frequently using 1997: 97). As mentioned in the literature review, attachment theory
‘we’ instead of ‘I’ — “we the ‘care persons’ in general are…” (Rares). Many deals with separation and loss as one of the most distressing experi-
tended to advocate their needs on behalf of the whole group: “Yeah, at ences (Howe, 1995). The moment of leaving care is experienced by
least a roof over our heads” (Florin). Care leavers also demonstrated a young people mostly with anxiety, avoidance, denial or anger. Inconsis-
strong peer support network once outside care, feeling a sense of belong- tencies in their stories regarding the moment they were told they had to
ing to the large “family” of “care persons”: leave care and the actual leaving highlight their tendency to avoid
 G. Dima, C. Skehill / Children and Youth Services Review 33 (2011) 2532–2539 2537

Psychological transition generally, it seems natural for policy makers and professionals to focus
on the future, on planning and implementing (Bridges, 2002) care dis-
charge and after care support, usually forgetting that people have to let
go of the present first. Findings of this study confirm that professionals
tended to be a step forward, while care leavers tended to be a step be-
‘IN- hind. Yet, for a successful transition this rhythms have to be correlated
ENDING Social
BETWEEN and the complexities understood. Given the layers of complexity, it
CARE transition
ZONE’ & proved difficult in the research to find a framework to capture this in
NEW terms of the pace of change for the young people that was often contra-
BEGINNING dictory in that in one sphere they seemed to be ‘moving on’ whereas in
other area, they weren't.
The research findings also highlighted the extent to which care
leavers have to deal with a ‘double transition’ — of adolescence (late ad-
Fig. 1. Phases of transition (Bridges, 2002: 70) adapted to leaving care. olescence or young adulthood), which is a normative one, and leaving
care, a non-normative event, as compared to the general youth popula-
tion (Pinkerton and McCrea, 1999: 25). Leaving care involves multiple
reality until the last moment, even those they knew they had to leave. transitions and in light of the focal model, the ‘timing, synchronicity
Even though they had seen other generations leaving during their and number of changes’ make the transition from care to independent
own time in care, they knew that once being in the final school year living critical for the individual's coping ability. The research outcomes
they had to leave at its end. Schofield and Beek (2007) define the pat- resonated with findings from Stein (1997: 26) who points to the ‘com-
terns of attachment referred to as ‘unresolved’ in adulthood as being pressed and accelerated transitions to adulthood’ of care leavers. Using
characterized by unresolved feelings which reappear at times of stress. the focal model (Coleman & Hendry, 1999), he claims that they need the
The intensity of feelings is a good indicator of the pervasive difficulties psychological and temporal space to focus on and deal with the changes
of the past – e.g. unresolved grief related to the major separation in of transition one at a time, an opportunity which they are denied (Stein,
their lives, that from their parents – which young people could activate 2004, 2006). Emerging identities of employer, parenthood, and partner
more or less consciously during the period of transition. (Baldwin, 1998; Biehal et al., 1995) need time for adjustment and ex-
Use of Bridges model highlights that preparation for discharge ploration, hence care leavers need a period of exploration of adult
should carefully focus on the emotional dimension of the care ending roles and responsibilities. The present study argues that this period is
and separation. According to the findings of this research, this need is a natural sequence in the young people's development, which can be
currently neglected and saying-goodbye mostly happened superficially, socially leaped over as in the case of care leavers, but not psychological-
with little attention paid to this by staff and most care leavers. This ly. If the period of exploration of adult roles is not granted at a social
seems to be somehow overlooked in the leaving care literature in gen- level because of contextual factors, it is anyway taken at the psycholog-
eral. For example, only two studies – Downes (1992) and Smit (1995) – ical level as a natural part of the process. In addition to exploring the
were identified to specifically pay attention to the ending, although emerging adult roles, care leavers also have to deal with identity
preparation programs are meant to address both ‘hard skills’ (practical changes, moving from a well developed ‘care-identity’ as described ear-
preparation) and ‘soft skills’ (emotional and relational, social skills, self- lier to a ‘normal’ identity. As findings show, for many care leavers the
esteem etc.) (Biehal et al., 1995; Cashmore & Paxman, 1996; Dixon & transition from the old care identity to a new one is difficult. While spe-
Stein, 2005; Stein, 1997, 2004; Stein & Wade, 2000). cific to the ‘in-between’ phase of psychological transition, even a few
The moment of leaving care can be seen as a ‘turning point’ (Rutter, years after discharge some care leavers still had difficulties in assuming
1995) in young people's life. The way in which separation occurs can a new, normal identity and socially integrate successfully.
make a difference by either helping young people look into their future We have established that social and psychological transitions from
or holding them back into the past. All transitions involve loss and these care to independent living and adulthood do not happen at the same
have to be mourned so the person should be able to move on (Giddens, pace. Taking the argument further, according to Bridges' (2002) phases
2005) and have farewell parties (Smit, 1995). of transition adapted to care leaving, one can argue that young people's
There were young people for whom leaving care was seen as ‘nor- social transition is directly into the new life situation, the ‘beginning’
mality’, part of the normal life course, even if they had left at age 18 or phase. On the other hand, they lag behind psychologically, being trapped
over 20. Those young people were coping much better with the mo- into the ending phase, not properly dealt with, and/or ‘in-between’
ment of leaving and after-care. Arnett (2000, 1994) and Arnett and phase of contradictory demands, confusion, chaos, exploration. Taking
Taber (1994)describe the phase of ‘emerging adulthood’ as a prolonged on this framework to theorize the psycho-social process of leaving
route toward adulthood. However, compared to young people in fami- care, it should come as little surprise that most young people fall into
lies, care leavers have to leave mostly against their will and without the the large middle group of survivors as described by Stein (2008).
resource of family support. A final argument for the use of Bridges' is that it helps to develop a
The research also showed that leaving care appears to be seen among clearer picture of how services can respond to the needs of care
Romanian professionals as a ‘moment’ rather than a ‘process’, the mo- leavers in the different phases of transition they move through.
ment of discharge being predominantly perceived as the end of the
‘care career’ according to Pinkerton's structure (Pinkerton and McCrea, 7. Conclusions
1999). Care leavers are expected to emerge into “instant adulthood”
(maturity) and to have the capacity to manage independent living Bridges framework is useful as an explanatory model to understand
(Anghel and Dima, 2008), which is similar to Stein and Carey's (1986) how transition takes place and how services could intervene in each of
early findings. Later, Stein (2006) uses the social transition process con- the phases to support care leavers' movement through the transition.
sisting of three stages – leaving or disengagement, transition itself and in- This leads to a number of implications for leaving care services relating
tegration – to highlight the significance of a middle stage, the opportunity to managing endings and new beginnings. Overall, the findings show
to explore and search for identity. Bridges' framework of three phases of that socially, care leavers leap directly into the third phase — the ‘begin-
transition is similar, but the main argument for its usefulness is the em- ning’ of a completely new stage in their lives (moving house, ending
phasis on the psychological dimension of leaving in addition to the social school – beginning work, from financial state dependence to financial in-
one, on which Romanian professionals focus almost solely. More dependence, changing community, city, leaving friends – making new
2538 G. Dima, C. Skehill / Children and Youth Services Review 33 (2011) 2532–2539

friends), while psychologically they still need time to deal with the end- field and opening up new avenues for them to develop their interest
ing, separation and ‘in-between’ phase, which cannot be accomplished in leaving care. Special thanks also go to the young people who open-
instantly. ly shared their life experiences and to the professionals who engaged
The focus on the ending zone draws attention to separation issues in the research. Dima would also like to extend personal thanks to
and the message for care leaving practice is that emotional preparation Caroline Skehill for her invaluable advice and ceaseless support
for ending and leaving care should receive special attention in order to throughout the PhD and to her English teacher, Angela Condrovici,
help young people in the process of separation from friends, staff and who recently passed away, for her much appreciated linguistic advice
the life in care. This should reduce the intensity of negative feelings and careful editing of the PhD.
and tension associated with the moment of leaving care. A good ending
is the platform for a smoother beginning (Dima, 2009). For example,
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