Time Management by Young People in Social Difficulties: Suggestions for Improving Their Life Trajectories

Inclusive Leisure as a Resource for Socio-Educational Intervention during the COVID-19 Pandemic with Care Leavers

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a reduction in leisure activities involving human contact. Social isolation has increased, particularly amongst vulnerable individuals with a fragile support network, as is the case with young people who have left care. The aim of the present research was to identify socio-educational proposals and interventions implemented during the pandemic pertaining to leisure as a form of promoting social inclusion of these young people. To this end, a qualitative study was carried out in which twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with young people who had left care system, in addition to fifteen interviews with professionals working with this group when delivering socio-educational interventions. Discourse analysis revealed that isolation due to the health crisis had greater repercussions in normalised settings in which leisure activity was reduced with this increasing risk of social inclusion amongst these young people. Proposals and experiences emerging from this setting provide evidence that socio-educational interventions targeting leisure facilitate social inclusion. In this sense, future lines of research are suggested to optimise the outcomes of socio-educational interventions within this group.

Socio-Educational Support Deficits in the Emancipation of Protected Youth in Spain

Background

The process of transition to adult life of youth with a record of protection is crucial to overcome the difficulties to achieve an independent life.

Objective

This research aims to analyze the conditions under which protected youth are emancipated, as well as the factors that facilitate emancipation.

Method

A qualitative study was performed with three samples: longitudinal follow-ups with youths when they exit the system and during 12 months (N = 24); life stories of youths who have exited the child welfare system at least 2 years ago and a maximum of 5 years ago (N = 22); interviews with professionals conducting their intervention in adolescent protection resources (N = 18).

Results

The results indicate that protective action is not enabling youths’ learning in normalized contexts, which negatively affects the conditions under which emancipation occurs. The experience of the protective action conditions the tendency to benefit from the post-majority socio-educational accompaniment.

Conclusions

The importance of socio-educational intervention continuing during the first moments of emancipation, providing professional accompaniment to the entire collective, is highlighted.