%0 Journal Article
%T Talking Back to ¡®Family¡¯, ¡®Family Troubles¡¯, and ¡®the Looked
%A Vicki Welch
%J Sociological Research Online
%@ 1360-7804
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/1360780417749439
%X ¡®Looked after¡¯ is a term used in the UK to describe children who are the subject of ¡®alternative care¡¯ arrangements (i.e. in the care of a statutory authority), most often away from their birth parents. Within this potentially stigmatising context, this article presents a reanalysis of data from semi-structured interviews with 17 participants during three recent small-scale studies in Scotland. Juhila¡¯s concept of ¡®talking back¡¯ to potentially stigmatising categories informs this analysis that explores participants¡¯ understanding of, and responses to, three categorisations: the ¡®family¡¯, ¡®family troubles¡¯, and ¡®the looked-after child¡¯. Participants were young people with experience of home supervision, birth mothers of adopted children, or kinship carers. The analysis finds clear examples of ¡®talking back¡¯ to all three categories, including through a process that linked categories, such that accepting aspects of one potentially stigmatised identity helped to explain membership of another. This suggests a potential refinement of Juhila¡¯s model. ¡®Looked after¡¯ was widely understood, but the term was seldom used by participants. There was evidence that participants ¡®talked back¡¯ to the idea of looked-after child by problematising its appropriateness in their circumstances, including home supervision and kinship care. In their discussions with researchers, these participants privileged biological understandings of ¡®family¡¯, affirming enduring links despite troubles and separations. The article concludes by identifying briefly some implications for policy and practice
%K birth mothers
%K children in care
%K family
%K family troubles
%K kinship carers
%K looked-after children
%K young people
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1360780417749439