Connecting-Africa | Find publications

Advanced search

Find:


Title Young men's experiences of residential childcare transition from mixed sex residential accommodation to single sex provision in Egypt
Full text https://hdl.handle.net/1842/42113; http://dx.doi.org/10.7488/era/4835
Date 2024
Author(s) Megahead, Hamido Aboalftooh
Contributor(s) Mitchell, Mary; Mccusker, Pearse; Clapton, Gary
Abstract This research study explores young men's experiences of the transition process from a mixed sex association providing residential care to that of a male-only residential care setting in Egypt. To illuminate this complex topic, this study has applied the interpretive interactionism approach. It has also drawn on theoretical perspectives such as childhood studies, the sociology of childhood and selected transitions theories. The study is qualitative in nature. Life-story interviews were conducted with a total of eleven young men aged between 12 to 14 years old who had already experienced the residential childcare transition process from one to the other as indicated above. These young men were from various male only residential childcare associations in Cairo, Egypt. Purposive and snowball samples were used to recruit the participants. They were recruited through emails, messenger, WhatsApp communications and telephone calls with the managers and directors of the mixed sex and male only residential childcare associations. These managers and directors were approached by email, Messenger, and WhatsApp communications and telephone calls and through these they were told about the study. If they agreed to let their young men participate, their permission to let these young men participate was sought. These young men were given the choice to refuse participation or even withdraw during the course of the interview. I did not take for granted that because a manager of residential childcare association had allowed these young men to participate, this meant that they were willing to do so. I have thus obtained the young men's consent as well as that of Edinburgh School of Social and Political Science 's favourable opinion on ethics application at level 2. Interviews were conducted online with 11 young men in the designated office in their associations. The Arabic language was used during the interviews with these young men. Before conducting the interview, pilot procedures were conducted with two young men who were not from the research participants cohort to detect any methodological problems that may develop during the course of the study. After collecting the data, my approach to analysis was guided by Pope, Ziebland, & Mays (2000)'s ideas of data analysis including five stages of familiarization, identifying a thematic framework, indexing, charting and mapping and interpretation. After formulating the findings, four findings' chapters were shared with the same 11 young men for the sake of validating and member checking the data. Another way in which credibility was enhanced was through peer debriefing. The study found four themes that captured the process of residential childcare transition from the point of view of the young men themselves; (a) the switch from female staff parenting (e.g., the residential care mother) to male staff parenting (staff) (e.g., male social worker), b) a process of having emotionally uplifting and despairing experiences, c) the development of a new identity, and d) the experience of transition as acquiring certain personal attributes. These four themes have structured a model and typology of transition from childhood towards adulthood. This model and typology of transition should be seen alongside of the four features which differentiate residential childcare in Egypt from its counterpart of residential childcare in the global north. Firstly, residential childcare in Egypt adheres to the Family Model in which the setting seeks to approximate a family with surrogate parents and children being as siblings of one another (Gibbons, 2005; 2007). Secondly, the main orientation of this specific residential childcare transition is housing, education & training (Gibbons, 2005). This trilogy-orientation has been demonstrated in two themes of the transition as firstly, developing a new identity and secondly, transition in terms of acquiring adulthood positive attributes. The attributes and characteristics of masculinity have been identified as a third significant feature of these transitioning young men. The attributes and characteristics of masculinity have been demonstrated in the theme of the individual young man developing identity (e.g., acquiring braveness and boldness) and the theme of the emotional content of transition (the stoic experience). Fourthly, Egyptian residential child care is mainly about caregiving for orphans. The participants experienced their transition differently across the four identified themes. For example, some participants experienced the most significant part of their transition process as the switch from female staff parenting to male staff parenting. Other participants experienced their transition process mainly as developing a new identity. The major policy implications arising from this research study are: giving young men information regarding their transition well before the transition event, including some preparation for these young men before transition, specifying a set time for the young man's transition, an emphasis on the importance on the young men's interpretation of transition, and offering procedures to implement screening of mentors in the all-male setting. The major practice implications arising from this research are: taking the time necessary to understand and know each transitioning young man individually, being aware that many transitioning young men experience confusion and other emotions, pursuing an empathic intervention for the young men who have a despairing experience, designing explanatory formats friendly to young men (e.g. life-books or art), informing young men of their transition beforehand and what will be happening to them, and arranging and scheduling regular visits after informing them of transition a considerable period of time before the transition event. The major research implications arising from this research study are: identifying four new variables for transition of young men, inspiring children and childhood researchers to approach the children's voices using interpretive interactionism as an alternative to using other methods of enquiry such as ethnography, enhancing the validation of the meanings discovered, and yielding unknown and insightful emic data about the process of residential childcare transition through the young men's perspective.
Subject(s) residential childcare; Young men; mixed sex residential accommodation; single sex provision; residential childcare in Egypt
Language en
Publisher The University of Edinburgh
Relation Megahead, H.A. (2012) Social work practice in contemporary Egypt, European Journal of Social Work, 15, 279-283; Megahead, H. A. (2015) Factors of Development Social Work Education in Contemporary Egypt, Journal of Human Behaviour in the Social Environment, 25, 960-970; Megahead, H.A. (2015a). Three Concepts of the International Flow of Social Work Practice in an Egyptian Context. Journal of Human Behaviour in the Social Environment, 25, 109 - 114; Megahead, H. A. (2017). Non-kinship family foster care in Egypt. Adoption & fostering, 41, 391'400; Megahead, H.A. (2022a). School Social Work Practice with Children of Special Education in Northern Ireland: Autobiographical Accounts. Advance. Preprint. https://doi.org/10.31124/advance.19350290.v1; Megahead, H.A. (2022b). Young men's experiences of residential childcare transitions in Egypt: Cross analysis of three case studies, TCELT Research Seminar, University of Dundee, Scotland.; Megahead, H. A. (2023). School Social Work Practice with Special Needs Children in Northern Ireland: Activity and Action Accounts. Advance. Preprint. https://doi.org/10.31124/advance.24252490.v1
Type of publication Thesis or Dissertation; Doctoral; PhD Doctor of Philosophy
Format application/pdf; application/octet-stream
Repository Edinburgh - University of Edinburgh
Added to C-A: 2024-08-26;09:39:18