The importance of reunification expectations for young people’s sense of belonging in residential care in Switzerland

Abstract

Background and purpose: Decisions about family reunification in out-of-home care are subject to ongoing international debates. While some scholars, based on attachment theory, argue that reunification with the family should only be an option for a limited period of time, as long-term placement leads to alienation from the family, others argue that long-term placement does not automatically imply alienation from the family and attachment to the new place of residence. However, there is little research on how young people in residential youth care, manage their sense of belonging between their out-of-home placement and their family’s place(s) of residence, and how this is affected by the expectation of reunification. This study draws on theories of belonging, which highlight the importance of the temporal and motivational aspects of belonging. The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between reunification expectations and the adolescents' sense of belonging to their residential care facility and their family’s place(s) of residence.

Data and methods: The study draws on quantitative cross-sectional data, collected within a larger research project in German-speaking Switzerland. The sample consisted of 563 young people from 90 different residential care facilities in 15 cantons. Data were collected using an online questionnaire. This questionnaire included self-developed scales measuring the young people’s sense of belonging to their different places of residence. In addition, participants were asked about their expectations regarding their future placement situation. The sense of belonging of those expecting a reunification with their family and those expecting to remain in the residential care facility into adulthood were compared. In addition, the influence of the length of placement on the young people's sense of belonging was examined.

Findings: The results show that of the total sample, 37% of the young people expect to be reunified with their family, making reunification the most common placement expectation. The results also show that young people’s placement expectations are important for their sense of belonging. Those expecting a reunification had a significantly lower sense of belonging to the residential care facility and a significantly higher sense of belonging to their family place(s) than those expecting to stay in the residential care facility into adulthood. Nevertheless, the results also show that the family places remain important for most young people despite their out-of-home placement. However, no significant correlations were found between the length of placement, neither with the placement expectations nor with the young people’s sense of belonging.

Conclusion and Implications: The findings indicate that young people's placement expectations should be taken into account when considering their sense of belonging in placement decisions. The findings also point to the importance of pathway planning in out-of-home placements and they show that the length of placement alone is not sufficient to understand the temporal dimension of belonging.