Life stories of former foster care youths
This article seeks to highlight how former foster care youths describe and make sense of their traumatic past, as well as how these elements impact their self-perception and vision of the future. Thirty-one former foster care youths’ life stories were analyzed based on the tenets of theoretical thematic analysis (Boyatzis, 1998), as well as the premises of complex trauma and narrative identity theories. Results indicate that youths are capable of understanding and describing the impacts of their endured traumas on their identity construction. They are also able to make sense of both the coping strategies they employed to face these traumatic events, as well as their role in shaping how they envision the future. The discussion elaborates on the relevance of using life stories both for gaining a better understanding of the complex challenges faced by foster care youth in constructing their identity, as well as for supporting interventions as they begin their transition to adulthood.