Driving Outcomes
Learning to drive, resilience and
young people living in residential care
David Berridge
Background
• Dates back to a previous study of residential
homes in England (2011)
• Practical and theoretical interest
• Concerns about outcomes for adolescents
experiencing State care as well as the
quality and purpose of residential care
• Role of the State as Corporate Parent
A small social experiment
• Providing driving lessons for a group of
adolescents living in residential homes in Bristol
• Sponsored
• Online search found no previous studies of this
topic
• Why do we not provide the same opportunities
for children in care as we do for our own
children?
• Unusual but interesting initiative, which might
also give meaning to some residential homes
Resilience theory (Rutter et al)
• How to explain the variation in human
responses to adversity, including child
abuse?
• ‘...reduced vulnerability to environmental
risk experiences, the overcoming of a
stress or adversity, or a relatively good
outcome despite risk experiences’ (2012)
• Dynamic rather than fixed
Some key themes in resiliency
• ‘Turning points’
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Importance of good social relationships
Wide range of social roles
Heightened self-esteem and self-efficacy
Strengthening instrumental and social skills
Feeling more in control
Ability to plan for the future
Limited exposure to risks in controlled circumstances
Various critiques but useful field of inquiry
Stein, Gilligan et al
Learning to drive initiative
• Qualitative study
• Examine process of selection; young
people’s perceptions of participating; staff
views of impact on young people and their
‘outcomes’; impact of initiative on peer
groups and functioning of the residential
homes concerned
Sample
• Six young people, 17+
• All left care. Male
• Individual interviews, also with two Council
service managers and three heads of the
homes in which the young people had
lived at the time
• Transcribed and analysed using NVivo
Results
• Only one to date passed driving test.
Three others making good progress with
driving but finding online theory test a
challenge. Practical and cognitive
reasons?
• But overall conclusion that the initiative
had been very successful and worthwhile
Two examples
‘Do you know what, actually all I would say
is that everything went brilliantly, it really
was. I couldn’t think of anything to be
improved really at all’ (James)
‘...it was pretty brilliant I think really, there
was nothing bad about it’ (Calum)
Impact on young people personal
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Personal, instrumental and social
Yp liked the positive feedback from instructors
Sense of pride – staff went outside to watch
Major topic of conversation in the res homes
General feeling that self-esteem and selfconfidence had benefitted
• Helped provide a source of motivation about
achievement
Instrumental/social benefits
• Linked to job/career opportunities
• Yp accessed wide variety of support from staff eg watching training
videos, quizzes
• Strengthened Keyworker relationships
• ‘Role model’ impact
• Social inclusion benefits? Symbolism as a widespread adult activity
• Overcame stigma for a couple of hours a week: both while driving
and as a consumer of a service
• No perceived wider educational benefits
• No identified disadvantages
Discussion
• Obviously modest experiment
• Practical implications eg selection, theory
test
• Consistent with theoretical resilience
literature: particularly heightened selfesteem and self-confidence
• Also closer relationships between young
people and staff
Conclusion
• Unusual project. What other small, social experiments
can we undertake without disadvantages?
• Wouldn’t expect it to be a panacea; but is it of
disproportionate benefit? Inexpensive cf costs of
residential care
• Moral obligation to provide in any case?
• Other examples (sports/ the arts etc - Gilligan)? Parttime jobs; advocacy work for young people in care...
Acknowledgements
• This initiative and the research were kindly
supported by the AA Charitable Trust,
British Academy and University of Bristol
Initiative Fund.
Further information
• Article submitted to international journal
• Project summary:
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/sps/research/proje
cts/completed/2014/drivingoutcomes/index
.html
• Blog:
http://policystudies.blogs.ilrt.org/2014/07/0
9/driving-outcomes/
References
• Berridge, D. et al (2011) Living in
Children’s Residential Homes. DfE –
RR201. London: Department for
Education
• Rutter, M. (2012) ‘Resilience as a
dynamic concept’, Development and
Psychopathology, (24), 335-344.