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Young Adults' Perspectives on Their Experiences of Different Types Of Young Adults’ Perspectives on Their Experiences of Different Types of Placement in Romania Mariela Neagu New College University of Oxford Thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at the University of Oxford Trinity Term 2017 2 To Florin, whose care trajectory debunks myths of foster care over residential care and private services over public ones. He was a special human being who read all the Harry Potter books during his childhood. He lost hope aged 20 and put an end to his life. And to others like him whose life stories will never be told in the way they would have done. 3 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My deep gratitude to New College for the scholarship that brought my research proposal to life and to Prof. Judy Sebba and Prof. Alis Oancea whose supervision has been art. Their questions and comments, encouragement and support have been a constant motivation to work harder while staying passionate about my research throughout this journey; and to the REES Centre ‘family’ for being such a supporting environment for this work. I am deeply grateful to the 39 people who trusted me with their life stories. They have been my most valuable partners in this research. It’s been a privilege to have met each and every one of them. I shall treasure the time we spent together and what I learned from them about life and human beings, for the rest of my life. I am most grateful to Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne and Dr. Anthony Rowsell for encouraging and supporting me to read for the MSt. in International Human Rights Law at Oxford, and to Jonathan Scheele, the former Head of the European Commission Delegation in Bucharest and to his wife Sarah for their friendship and care during my time in Oxford since the first day I arrived here with my family. I would also like to thank my ‘old’ friends who were teenagers when I first met them: Elena, Andreea, Florin, Nicu, Veronica, Maria, Silviu, Costel, Robert. Looking back, I know that their friendship was the seed of this research, long before I knew that I would be a researcher. My data collection would have taken years without those who supported it in different ways: Prof. Daniela Cojocaru, Prof. Stefan Cojocaru, Prof. Ana Muntean, Niculina Karacsony, Mihaela Ignatovici, Cristina Pavaluta, Cristina Savin, Agota Szeles and my friends George Uta, Dragos Dumitru, Cristina Vitti, Riccardo Nicolai, Ileana Florea, Stefan Barth, Mircea Toplean, Razvan Rada, Ada Milea, Ani and Bobo Burlacianu, Dana and Daniel Les, Mioara and Ioan Tolea, Luiza and Gabriel Agape, Madleine Lansky, Cristina Acs, Dana Costin Stelian, Eliza Gheorghe, Radu Hurjui, Magda and Bradut Avram. And to ‘my’ Oxford: with its Bodleian library (which to me is the 8th wonder of the world), Albion Beatnik Bookstore, St. Barnabas Church. Driven by my research thoughts, I often stepped in one of these with my doubts, seeking answers. And my wonderful landlords, Fiona and James whose house has been a true home, not least due to their warmth and kindness. And to my lifelong friends whom I met here: Cosmina and Susie (whose empathic listening was my academic stress relief), Raluca, Andrei, Monica, Ciprian, Dragos, Corneliu, Marina, Mihai, Cora, Simona, Bayar, Uma, Olivia, Dennis, Cristina, Alexandra, Emma, James. Last but not least, I would like to thank my supportive and resilient family: Daniel Balanescu, Mara and Tudor for loving me the way I’ve been for the last few years: mostly busy or away. To my brother, Ticu, and to our parents, Elisabeta and Constantin, who are no longer with us but who raised us to be free even during communism by making sure we had books, faith, an education... And a sense of humour! 5 6 Young Adults’ Perspectives on Their Experiences of Different Types of Placement in Romania Mariela Neagu New College University of Oxford Thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at the University of Oxford Trinity Term 2017 ABSTRACT This study explores the childhood experiences and transitions to adulthood of 39 Romanian care leavers and adoptees, born around 1989 - 1990. In the past, Romania’s children in care became known to the world as ‘the Romanian orphans’ and some of them have been subjects to neurodevelopmental research studies focusing on the setbacks posed by institutionalisation in early life. This research project takes a different angle by: Using life history approach and therefore capturing the participants’ in-depth accounts of how they recall their childhoods and the challenges they encountered in their transition to independent life; Exploring four different types of placements and how they affect transition to independent life, from a user’s perspective. 7 The fact that Romania undertook reform of the child protection system within the timespan of this generation of children provided a research opportunity to collect the users’ views on different types of placement that belonged to the unreformed system of the 1990s (large residential care and intercountry adoption) and the new types of placement (small group homes and foster care). For comparison purposes, I also included domestic adoption, a type of placement that was less controversial than the others at the time reforms were being introduced. Thus, the types of placement that are analysed through the research participants’ accounts are: Residential care (institutions and small group homes) Foster Care Domestic Adoption Intercountry adoption The study addressed two research questions: 1. How do Romanian born young people who grew up in care understand and narrate their experiences in different types of placement? 2. What narratives of agency are constructed by Romanian-born adults who grew up in different types of placement when they describe their transition to adulthood? By taking an interpretive stance, this study brings in the academic arena the voices of care leavers and adoptees. By using narrative analysis and focussing on the concept of dignity by employing identity theories, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Capabilities Approach, the study makes an important contribution to knowledge, with implications for further research, policy and practice. 8 While interventions in child protection are influenced in each country by cultural, political and socio-legal factors, understanding the basic needs of children who are not raised by their birth families is important across different child protection systems. Therefore, the relevance of the research findings is not limited to Romania. 9 10 Contents Glossary of Terms for the Purpose of this Study ..................................................................... 15 List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... 17 List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ 17 About the Author ..................................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 1: Introduction ......................................................................................................... 25 Chapter 2: Care, Dignity and Identity in Different Types of Placement ................................ 47 2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 47 2.2 Care and Types of Child Protection Placement ................................................................. 49 2.3 Outcomes of Different Types of Placement: Review of the Literature ............................. 52 2.3.1 Residential Care ............................................................................................... 55 2.3.2 Foster Care ....................................................................................................... 58 2.3.3 Adoption .......................................................................................................... 61 2.3.4 Domestic Adoption (Romania) ......................................................................... 62 2.3.5 Intercountry Adoption ..................................................................................... 65 2.3.6 Comparative Studies of Different Types of Placement ................................... 69 2.3.7 Research Exploring Voices of Care Leavers and Adoptees .............................. 72 2.3.8 Gaps in the Literature ...................................................................................... 75 2.4 Care and Identity: Theoretical Framework ........................................................................ 76 2.5 Care, Children’s Rights and the Capabilities Approach ..................................................... 82 2.6 The Research Questions..................................................................................................... 92 Chapter 3: Research Design and Methodology ...................................................................... 95 3.1. Justification of the Research Design and Methodology .................................... 95 3.2 Epistemological Stance: Interpretive Analysis .................................................. 102 3.3 Sampling and Recruitment of Research Participants ....................................... 105 3.4 Fieldwork and Recruitment of Research Participants ...................................... 109 3.5 Ethics ................................................................................................................
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