Rethinking the Meaning of Family for Adolescents and Youth in Zimbabwe's Child Welfare Institutions

1. Auflage 2023
ISBN: 978-3-031-23377-7
Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buch, Englisch, 163 Seiten, Format (B × H): 148 mm x 210 mm, Gewicht: 251 g

Reihe: Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life

This book examines the lives of children and young adults living in residential care systems in Zimbabwe and their unique conceptualization of family. While the importance of family for the development and wellbeing of children can't be overemphasized, the questions of what and who counts as family to orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) are under-researched. Gwenzi brings a social constructionist approach to study OVCs in institutional care as well as living with their families in Zimbabwe, finding that they do not have a single definition of family and that they use diverse characteristics to describe what family means to them. With the data suggesting a need for belonging, continuity of relationships, protection, and trust, this study makes recommendations for policy and practice with youth in alternative care in sub-Saharan Africa.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Gwenzi, Getrude Dadirai

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Familiensoziologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Innen-, Bildungs- und Bevölkerungspolitik
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Sozialpolitik
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Pädagogik
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Arbeit/Sozialpädagogik Soziale Dienste, Soziale Organisationen
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction.- 2. A Study on Family Meanings.- 3. Theorising Family Meanings.- 4. Constructing “Family” During Child-Family Separation.- 5. Family in Southern Africa.- 6. Adolescents’ and Youths’ “Family Meanings” in Zimbabwe.- 7. Rethinking the Meaning of Family for Adolescents and Youths in Zimbabwe’s Child Welfare Institutions.

Über Autor(innen)

Getrude Dadirai Gwenzi is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Work at the University of Zimbabwe, and Research Associate with the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Her research interests include child welfare, orphans, vulnerable children, care leavers, and families. She has been researching children and young people in state institutions since 2014.