Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Publication
    Doing relationships and sexuality education with young people in state care
    Background: Existing literature indicates that young people in state care have particular sexual health needs that include addressing their social and emotional well-being, yet little has been published as to how these components of sex education are actually delivered by service-providers. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyse the processes involved in delivering relationship and sexuality education to young people in state care from the perspectives of a sample of service-providers with a role in sexual health-care delivery. Design: Qualitative methodological strategy. Setting: Service-delivery sites at urban and rural locations in Ireland. Method: A total of 22 service-providers were interviewed in depth, and data were analysed using a qualitative analytical strategy resembling modified analytical induction. Findings: Participants proffered their perceptions and examples of their practices of sex education in relation to the following themes: (1) acknowledging the multi-dimensional nature of sexual health in the case of young people in care; (2) personal and emotional development education to address poor self-esteem, emotional disconnectedness and an inability to recognise and express emotions; (3) social skills’ education as part of a repertoire of competencies needed to negotiate relationships and safer sex; (4) the application of positive social skills embedded in everyday social situations; and (5) factual sexuality education. Conclusion: Insights into service-providers’ perceptions of the multi-dimensional nature of the sexual health needs of young people in state care, and the ways in which these service-providers justified their practice make visible the complex character of sex education and the degree of skill required to deliver it to those in state care.
    Scopus© Citations 4  348
  • Publication
    The role of knowledge in the contraceptive behaviour of sexually active young people in state care
    Aim: To analyse the role of sex-focused knowledge in the contraceptive behaviour of sexually active young people in state care. Methods: The sample consisted of 19 care leavers (young people previously in state care) aged 18–22 years, 16 females and 3 males. In-depth interviewing was the method of data collection, and a qualitative strategy resembling modified analytical induction was used to analyse data. Findings: Findings indicated that a lack of information was not the sole or even the primary reason for engaging in unsafe sexual practices. Other factors such as ambivalence to becoming pregnant also featured in participants' accounts. Several participants conveyed a relatively weak sense of agency about consistently using contraception. A small number of participants expressed a strong determination to avoid pregnancy, and these appeared to have a level of anxiety about becoming pregnant that motivated them to engage with knowledge about contraception and its use. Conclusion: Lack of sex-focused information is just one aspect of a myriad of complex factors, including socioeconomic disadvantage and/or emotional deprivation, that influence contraceptive behaviour.
      352Scopus© Citations 4