IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v99y2019icp328-342.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Self-determination theory as a Framework for understanding needs of youth at-risk: Perspectives of social service professionals and the youth themselves

Author

Listed:
  • Nagpaul, Tania
  • Chen, Jinwen

Abstract

While there is evidence from the self-determination perspective for the positive impact of self-determination interventions on at-risk youth's transition outcomes, no research to date, has attempted to understand youth needs from both social service provider and youth client perspectives in the same study. The present study sought to generate a nuanced understanding of youth needs. For this purpose, the study was conducted in two phases. In phase 1, twenty-one social service professionals (case workers, social workers, counsellors, program supervisors) were interviewed to get an understanding of their perception of youth needs and how they are being met. In phase 2, 45 at-risk youths aged between 15 and 25 were interviewed to get an understanding of their perception of their most essential needs and how they are being served or under-served. Participants also completed a short survey on needs satisfaction, life satisfaction and resilience outcomes. Results revealed misalignment between the social service programmes and youths' articulated needs. The findings point towards the importance of considering the specific role of the psychological need for autonomy and relatedness in bridging the gap between service provision and client expectations. Recommendations for intervention researchers and practitioners are proposed.

Suggested Citation

  • Nagpaul, Tania & Chen, Jinwen, 2019. "Self-determination theory as a Framework for understanding needs of youth at-risk: Perspectives of social service professionals and the youth themselves," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 328-342.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:99:y:2019:i:c:p:328-342
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.02.015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740919300052
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.02.015?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Spencer, Renée & Drew, Alison L. & Gowdy, Grace & Horn, John Paul, 2018. "“A positive guiding hand”: A qualitative examination of youth-initiated mentoring and the promotion of interdependence among foster care youth," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 41-50.
    2. Powers, Laurie E. & Fullerton, Ann & Schmidt, Jessica & Geenen, Sarah & Oberweiser-Kennedy, Molly & Dohn, JoAnn & Nelson, May & Iavanditti, Rosemary & Blakeslee, Jennifer, 2018. "Perspectives of youth in foster care on essential ingredients for promoting self-determination and successful transition to adult life: My life model," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 277-286.
    3. Powers, Laurie E. & Geenen, Sarah & Powers, Jennifer & Pommier-Satya, Summer & Turner, Alison & Dalton, Lawrence D. & Drummond, Diann & Swank, Paul, 2012. "My Life: Effects of a longitudinal, randomized study of self-determination enhancement on the transition outcomes of youth in foster care and special education," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(11), pages 2179-2187.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gazit, Matan & Perry-Hazan, Lotem, 2020. "Disadvantaged youth’s participation in collective decision making," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    2. Itzhaki-Braun, Yael & Sulimani-Aidan, Yafit, 2022. "Determination of life satisfaction among young women care leavers from the Ultraorthodox Jewish community," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gazit, Matan & Perry-Hazan, Lotem, 2020. "Disadvantaged youth’s participation in collective decision making," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    2. Blakeslee, Jennifer E. & Best, Jared I., 2019. "Understanding support network capacity during the transition from foster care: Youth-identified barriers, facilitators, and enhancement strategies," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 220-230.
    3. Klodnick, Vanessa V. & Johnson, Rebecca P. & Morris, Cory & Cohen, Deborah A. & Sapiro, Beth & Schneider, Ava & Fagan, Marc A., 2021. "Shifting from receiver to provider: Aging out of semi-institutional child welfare settings with serious mental health diagnoses," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    4. Olsson, Tina M & Blakeslee, Jennifer & Bergström, Martin & Skoog, Therése, 2020. "Exploring fit for the cultural adaptation of a self-determination model for youth transitioning from out-of-home care: A comparison of a sample of Swedish youth with two samples of American youth in o," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    5. Blakeslee, Jennifer E. & Powers, Laurie E. & Geenen, Sarah & Schmidt, Jessica & Nelson, May & Fullerton, Ann & George, Kevin & McHugh, Elizabeth & Bryant, Mary, 2020. "Evaluating the My Life self-determination model for older youth in foster care: Establishing efficacy and exploring moderation of response to intervention," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    6. Harwick, Robin M. & Lindstrom, Lauren & Unruh, Deanne, 2017. "In their own words: Overcoming barriers during the transition to adulthood for youth with disabilities who experienced foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 338-346.
    7. Andersen, Signe Hald, 2019. "The effect of aftercare on human capital acquisition among foster care alumni," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 28-41.
    8. Phyllis King Shui Wong, 2022. "Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Group-Based Self-Determination Enhancement Intervention for Adults with Mild Intellectual Disability and Their Caregi," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-16, February.
    9. Courtney, Mark E. & Valentine, Erin J. & Skemer, Melanie, 2019. "Experimental evaluation of transitional living services for system-involved youth: Implications for policy and practice," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 396-408.
    10. Miller, Rebecca & Blakeslee, Jennifer & Ison, Chanel, 2020. "Exploring college student identity among young people with foster care histories and mental health challenges," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    11. Phyllis King Shui Wong & Amy Yin Man Chow, 2021. "Self-Determination Competencies, (Dis)Agreement in Decision-Making, and Personal Well-Being of Adults with Mild Intellectual Disabilities in Hong Kong," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-16, October.
    12. McCauley, Erin, 2021. "Differential risks: How disability shapes risk in the transition to adulthood for youth who age out of foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    13. Stewart, C. Joy & Kum, Hye-Chung & Barth, Richard P. & Duncan, Dean F., 2014. "Former foster youth: Employment outcomes up to age 30," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 220-229.
    14. Drew, Alison L. & Spencer, Renée, 2021. "Mentors’ approach to relationship-building and the supports they provide to youth: A qualitative investigation of community-based mentoring relationships," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    15. Doucet, Melanie M. & Greeson, Johanna K.P. & Eldeeb, Nehal, 2022. "Independent living programs and services for youth 'aging out' of care in Canada and the U.S.: A systematic review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    16. Blakeslee, Jennifer & Miller, Rebecca & Uretsky, Mathew, 2022. "Efficacy of the Project Futures self-determination coaching model for college students with foster care backgrounds and mental health challenges," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    17. Powers, Laurie E. & Fullerton, Ann & Schmidt, Jessica & Geenen, Sarah & Oberweiser-Kennedy, Molly & Dohn, JoAnn & Nelson, May & Iavanditti, Rosemary & Blakeslee, Jennifer, 2018. "Perspectives of youth in foster care on essential ingredients for promoting self-determination and successful transition to adult life: My life model," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 277-286.
    18. Slayter, Elspeth, 2016. "Youth with disabilities in the United States Child Welfare System," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 155-165.
    19. Greeson, Johanna K.P. & Garcia, Antonio R. & Tan, Fei & Chacon, Alexi & Ortiz, Andrew J., 2020. "Interventions for youth aging out of foster care: A state of the science review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    20. Phillips, Lee Ann & Powers, Laurie E. & Geenen, Sarah & Schmidt, Jessica & Winges-Yanez, Nichole & McNeely, Isha Charlie & Merritt, Lindsay & Williamson, Candis & Turner, Shannon & Zweben, Harry & Bod, 2015. "Better Futures: A validated model for increasing postsecondary preparation and participation of youth in foster care with mental health challenges," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 50-59.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:99:y:2019:i:c:p:328-342. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.