This research study explores young people’s participation and well-being in residential care in England and Germany.
Project Overview
This research is part of a larger inter-disciplinary project, Geste, involving the Universities of Hamburg and Siegen and Royal Holloway University of London funded by the German Ministry for Education.
The overall aim of the project is to understand from the perspectives of young people how residential care provision can promote their well-being, and how their participation in practice and policy arenas can be developed. As this is part of a comparative cross-national project, this study also aims to draw out lessons from both England and Germany that can inform policy and practice promoting the well-being and participation of children and young people in residential care.
This project utilises the Capability Approach (CA) to inform the development and analysis of the research data. The CA originally conceived by Amartya Sen and further explored by Martha Nussbaum provides a theoretical framework concerning wellbeing, human development and social justice, with the capability for ‘voice’, an important concept in the CA.
Aims & Duration
The research questions we want to explore further are:
- What is life like for children and young people in residential care?
- What matters for them in their daily lives?
- What opportunities do they have to have a say in decisions about their lives?
- What do children and young people think good residential care looks like?
- What are ways that young people's voices and perspectives can be better heard in practice and policy arenas?
The project is expected to be completed in March 2023.
Funder
The project is funded by the German Ministry for Education.
