Understanding interdependence in early adulthoods: Learning from care experienced young people who participated in Lifelong Links

'Freedom can only be exercised if there is enough support for the exercise of freedom', wrote the philosopher Judith Butler - an idea that underpins the focus of this exciting PhD opportunity. We live in a period when young people face increasing challenges and uncertainties in their transitions into early adulthoods, spanning areas including education, housing and employment. It has become more common for young adults to rely on family for emotional, practical and financial support, if they are able to do so. At the same time, when families are living in difficult circumstances, young people often play a key role in providing care and support. These patterns in contemporary society have particularly sharp implications for young people who have been in care, who often face abrupt and accelerated transitions into independence after leaving care. There is an urgent need to build better understandings of interdependencies and support for young adults with care experience, and of the ways in which formal and informal sources of support intersect in everyday lives over time. This is the focus of the PhD, which takes a mixed methods approach to studying mutual support, care and connections in young adult lives. This project creates a unique opportunity to conduct a fully-funded PhD, with linked paid work experience in addition to the stipend, in collaboration with the national organisation Family Rights Group. The planned research builds on a programme called Lifelong Links, which was developed by Family Rights Group with the aim of ensuring that children in care have a positive support network.

Project aims and objectives
The over-arching aim of the research is to understand the nature of interdependency in the lives of care experienced young people as they navigate early adulthoods. The project will employ a mixed methods approach. The final research design will be refined and developed by successful candidate, working with their supervisors at Sussex and Family Rights Group, but the work will address three core objectives:
1. Establishing the policy context and building a theoretical and conceptual framework for the research, by conducting a policy and literature review;
2. Documenting quantitively the pathways of young adults who have worked with Lifelong Links, through analysis of local authority data within one Lifelong Links area; and,
3. Illuminating understandings of interdependency and relational selves, by conducting in-depth interviews with a sample of young adults who participated in Lifelong Links.