Adolescents’ and Youths’ “Family Meanings” in Zimbabwe

Gwenzi presents the empirical findings on a study that was conducted on adolescents and youths’ family definitions and constructions of family membership in Zimbabwe. The study used mixed methodology, necessitating both quantitative and qualitative analyses, including descriptive statistics (means, frequencies, chi-squares), binary logistic regression, multinomial logistic regression and grounded thematic analysis. Key findings include the knowledge that there is no one definition of family for adolescents and youths in child welfare institutions. Family is defined based on not only consanguinity but also affective characteristics such as love, care and support. Family membership groups were also diverse to include both biological and non-kin individuals. Family meanings are influenced by factors such as age, living arrangement, contact with the biological family and some precare circumstances, namely, neglect and orphanhood.