Ellis, K. orcid.org/0000-0003-4185-1912 (2025) Imagining a future family: students with care experience. Journal of Youth Studies. ISSN: 1367-6261
Abstract
Although a significant number of care experienced parents have their own children taken into care, most go on to parent without intervention from services, suggesting a complex relationship between experiences of parenting in childhood and parenting practices in adulthood. This research provides unique and compelling evidence that directly challenges deficit-based narratives, illuminating the agency and potential of care-experienced individuals. Findings are drawn from interviews with care experienced university students, enrolled in universities across England and Wales. Through in-depth qualitative analysis, the study demonstrates that care experienced students possess strong desires for stable, secure family lives, actively drawing on positive role models from their past to inform their future parenting. Significantly, participants revealed that they aspired to be ‘excellent’ parents and were confident that they gained knowledge of what ‘not to do’ from those who previously caused them harm or distress. A minority of participants disclosed that they did not plan to have children in the future due to their previous experiences in childhood. This paper contributes unique insights into the shifting identities of care experienced university students as they consider their hopes and aspirations for their future families.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2025 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. |
Keywords: | Parenting; care experience; students; aspirations; higher education |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > Health Sciences School (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 06 Aug 2025 15:06 |
Last Modified: | 06 Aug 2025 15:06 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | Informa UK Limited |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/13676261.2025.2531781 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:230144 |
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