The Internal Conversations and Social Networks of Care Leavers at University

Individuals who have been in care are often thought of as a homogenous group who, because of past and ongoing contextual adversities, have outcomes reflecting hardship in various do mains. Aggregated outcomes may conceal the presence of individuals within this group who develop life projects and are able to put plans into action. Some manage to succeed educationally and take up places on university course. This research seeks to explore the reflexivity, internal conversations and social networks of young people who had been in care but had managed to become students at university. Five young people were interviewed using Archer’s (2003, 2007) semi-structured internal conversation inter view and then using Hartman’s (1978) ecogram to graphically represent their social network. Data was analysed using Robinson and Smith’s (2010) composite analysis, which incorporates elements of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (2015) and the Inter active Model (Miles and Huberman (1995). The young people’s accounts showed that they were proudly independent, demonstrating considerable personal agency, but were well connected and able to access emotional and practical support in their social networks. They felt different to others and managed their difficult histories in a variety of ways. The results are considered in relationship to Archer’s theory and theories of resilience.