Rethinking the Meaning of Family for Adolescents and Youths in Zimbabwe’s Child Welfare Institutions

Gwenzi offers an argument towards rethinking the meaning of family for adolescents and youths living in child welfare institutions. She provides an explanation for why traditional definitions and constellations of family do not apply to adolescents and youths growing up in separation from the biological family. In support of this argument, she proposes a conceptual framework for understanding the construction of family in the context of biological family separation. She adds how this conceptual model can be applied in social work contexts with separated adolescents and youths. The chapter ends with recommendations for improvements in child welfare in Zimbabwe, where the study was based, thereby making a contribution to the literature on families as well as policy and practice with vulnerable children and youths in Zimbabwe and beyond.