Life Story Work
Reflections on the Experience by Looked after Young People
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11941534 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rachel Willis (Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, Wales, corresponding author), Holland (0000-0001-7600-3855, Cardiff University) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 44-52 |
| Publication date | 2009-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Adoption & Fostering (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0308-5759 • E-ISSN: 1740-469X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/030857590903300406 |
| OpenAlex | W2141559867 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 21 |
| References cited | 6 |
Rachel Willis and Sally Holland report on a qualitative study of young people's experiences of life story work. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 12 young people aged 11–18 and looked after by one local authority in South Wales. They had experienced a wide range of styles and content of life story work. The young people reflected on both the emotional aspects of the work and the new information they had gained about their own histories. Life story work invoked a range of emotions among participants, including tedium, pleasure, anger and sadness. It also appeared to have a function in helping young people to work out aspects of their identity. All were positive about the experience, although a small number had found the process tedious at times or intrusive to their everyday lives. Most envisaged a future role for the life story books in their lives, expecting to return to the work for their own reflection or to show it to others. The article concludes that both the process of life story work and the material record produced are important to looked after young people. The paucity of empirical studies in this area is noted and suggestions for future research are made
Aesthetics · Anger · Everyday life · Identity (music · Pleasure · Psychotherapist · Sadness · Sociology · Work (physics · Child Welfare and Adoption · Gender Studies · Identity, Memory, and Therapy · Psychology · Social Psychology · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics
The Many Faces of the “Foster Care Youth” Label
‘Remember when…’
I was once another person with a different name
Foster children who decide to be called by a new first name
Life story work with looked after and adopted children
Telling Different Stories
We need to understand what’s going on because it’s our life ’
Life story work for children and youth in out of home care
Évaluer pour mieux intervenir
Names and naming in adoption
C hild W ell‐ B eing S cales ( CWBS ) in the assessment of families and children in home‐care intervention
I wish someone would explain why I am in care”
Making Records Meaningful
Putting the Heart Back into the Record’
Adopters’ views on their children’s life story books
Confiding in others
In, out and after care
Adopted children and young people's views on their life storybooks
To talk or not to talk?’
Framework and effects of the life story work based group intervention Ankommen for adolescents in residential care in Germany. A qualitative analysis of interviews with participants
An Autoethnographic Perspective of Life Story Work
| Citations per year | 1.31 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2010 - 2025 (16) |
| Highly cited | No |