SOCIAL WORK & CHRISTIANITY
Spirituality as a Protective Factor: A Multinational Study of 267 Adults Separated from Parental Care as Children Nicole Gilbertson Wilke, Megan Roberts, Tony Mitchell, Amanda Hiles Howard Adults who were separated from parental care as children and resided in alternative care settings often experience difficulties throughout their lifespan. Thus, it is important to explore factors that lead to better outcomes. Spirituality is one protective factor that has received attention in academic literature in recent years. However, little work has examined spirituality in this population or the specific ways it impacts wellbeing in adulthood. Using thematic analysis, the current study explored the specific ways spirituality serves as a protective factor in a multinational sample of 267 individuals with care experience. Data revealed six spirituality-related themes: 1) relationship with God, 2) spiritual community support, 3) spirituality as a component of identity development, 4) a belief in a higher purpose, 5) spirituality-motivated servanthood, and 6) access to spirituality-based teachings and teachers. Based on these findings, we propose data-informed recommendations to improve services for children separated from parental care. Keywords: spirituality, care leavers, alternative care, faith, religiosity, adults with care experience, protective factors
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ILLIONS OF INDIVIDUALS AROUND THE WORLD have experienced separation from parental care as children (Desmond et al., 2020). They reside in a variety of alternative care settings, including kinship care, foster care, and residential care centers (Kakkar, 2019; Martin & Zulaika, 2016). As children in these settings become adults and leave care, outcomes are often poor (Ellis et al., 2017;
Social Work & Christianity, Vol. 50, No. 2 (2023), 191-212 DOI: 10.3403/swc.v50i2.309 Journal of the North American Association of Christians in Social Work